Flight 218
by AsgardianGrizzly
Summary: Five minutes before impact a chemical was released on the plane, killing everyone above age 19. Upon impact, the number of survivors was cut in half. Five minutes after impact, the surviving group began to realize that they had new abilities that they didn't have when they had entered the plane. Ten minutes after impact, they ran. SUBMIT YOUR OWN CHARACTER STORY. DETAILS INSIDE.
1. Prologue & Details

Intro-

 **Before I give you the glorious details on this SYOC, here's a tiny bit about my writing so you know what to expect from this story:**

 _ **~AVENGERS~**_

While New York was under attack, while the Avengers assembled, while Loki was taken into custody, 100 people boarded Flight 218. 100 people were going to fly from Massachusetts to New York City. One hour before landing, they reached New York. Forty five minutes before landing, communications were lost. Half an hour into New York, they realized that New York was being invaded.

Ten minutes before emergency landing, an unknown extraterrestrial assailant fired upon the plane. Eight minutes before impact, two young men stood and started a fight with the pilot. Five minutes before impact a chemical was released on the plane, killing everyone above age 19. Upon impact, the number of survivors was cut in half. Five minutes after impact, the surviving group began to realize that they had new abilities that they didn't have when they had entered the plane. Ten minutes after impact, they ran.

 _ **~AVENGERS~**_

 **Now that that's done, here's a bit about my style of writing chapters:**

1) I focus mainly in the Marvel Fandom and I know almost everything there is to know about it, so if you submit to this story I can promise that there will be refs.

2) My chapters usually reach around 4,000-5,000 words

3) I expect high quality characters, but find it hard to turn down characters. ;)

4) THIS WILL NOT BE CIRCLED AROUND MY CHARACTER, IT WILL HAVE VARYING POVs

5) There will be a larger prologue after submissions are received

6) This story is an AU. So the movies are a bit mismatched.

 **SUBMIT VIA PM (UNLESS YOU'RE A GUEST)**

 _ **~AVENGERS~**_

 **Hey guys, welcome to my brand new SYOC. I hope you are at least intrigued. While I may not have the best record with finishing stories…hehe…sorry…I promise this one will not be left behind. Just look at my** _ **Children of Hydra**_ **Series for proof! I'm a Marvel nerd and I will totally stick by this story! The number of characters I will be accepting DOES NOT EXIST, but I'll be trying not to surpass 10 for the main characters. I will base the number purely on how many good characters I receive and how I can work them in. But first…I have some rules…RELAX ITS ONLY A COUPLE!**

1) BE CREATIVE! NOTHING IS TOO CRAZY, DARK, EXTREME. I love creativity.

2) Just nothing ridiculous. Don't say "Well, Michael Michaels can turn into melted cheese and talk to pigs." (._.) No. Just—Just no.

3) NO COPYCATS OF REAL CHARACTERS. I'm still open to a billionaire, or a pair of twins, just not a billionaire with an arc-reactor and a pair of twins with super speed and hexes. :)

4) I LOVE DETAILS! The longer the form the better! But if you don't like writing, just make sure it's short and sweet not short and detail-less.

 **LET ME BE CLEAR: YOUR OCs DO NOT KNOW KING. THEY ARE CHOSEN FOR A SPECIFIC REASON, BUT THEY DO NOT KNOW THAT REASON. IF YOU WANT A UNIQUE BACKSTORY, BRING IT UP AND WE CAN DISCUSS. :)**

 **Be unique with backstories. Are they homeless? Were they part of an experiment? Are they just your average teen?**

 **Okay, well, if you're as excited as I am: here's the form! It applies to heroes, villains and everything in-between. :)**

Full Name:

Nicknames (optional):

Alias/Codename (optional):

Age (no younger than 14, no older than 19):

Species/Nationality (Human, Asgardian, Kree, etc):

Sexuality (homosexual/heterosexual):

Alignment (ally/team member/villain):

Abilities (power wise):

Weaknesses (power wise):

Abilities (weaponry):

Hair (length/color):

Eye (color/shape):

Facial Features (straight jawline, fangs, etc):

Bodily Appearance (form and muscularity):

Skin Color (olive, dark, shadowed, pale, etc ((not everyone is gaunt))):

Height:

Scars/birthmarks/piercings/tattoos:

Personality (CREATIVITY IS KEY!):

Skills (both on the field and off the field):

Faults/Weaknesses (generally):

Likes:

Dislikes:

Fears (why are they afraid of it? ((not everyone is afraid of heights)):

Friends (type of person):

Enemies (type of person, Hydra, S.H.I.E.L.D., etc):

History (love a good backstory, include family members and why they were on the plane):

Relationship (open to, not open to, type of person):

Type of Clothing They Wear (an outfit of example or type of clothing/style):

Something(s) your character would say that describes their personality, a quote from your character ("In the end you will always kneel.", "Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist.", etc):

Other info:

 **That's all folks. :)**

 **FORM IS ALSO ON PROFILE**

 **The faster you submit, the faster we get this thing going. The last story I wrote got submissions really fast and it's currently finished at around 40 chapters and 2 stories. :)**

 **Sincerely,**

 **AsgardianGrizzly**


	2. Character List

**Character List Update**

1) Donovan Sterling – Elianora Annora

2) Leonel Sterling – AsgardianGrizzly

3) Sarah Ride – TheForgottenPrincess

4) Kriselle Clearly – ATcat

5) Lycan Cohen - SilverBattleScar

6) Wren Williams – LadyMorganaPendragon

7) Carrie Huber – 221tombaker

8) Scarlett McTavish – AwesomeGirl909

 **Thank you to anyone who submitted, and I apologize if your character wasn't accepted. They may appear as a cameo. The only reason I couldn't accept certain ones was because my last SYOC I accepted WAY TO MANY and it became soooo overwhelming. The second possibility is that your character was very similar to another person's, and they happened to have submitted first.**

 **Please enjoy the story. Chapter 1 should be up today, if not then tomorrow. :)**

 **-AG**


	3. Fly to Fall

Chapter 1-

 **Hello all. :) Thank you guys so much for all the submissions. I can tell you're all anxious to see my writing style and how I do with your characters.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own any character submitted (apart from Leonel Sterling). The storyline belongs to me, the setting belongs to the amazing Avengers production cast. :)**

 **PLEASE DO NOT SKIP POVs THAT ARE NOT YOUR CHARACTER's, AS THIS WILL RUIN THE STORYLINE. Thx. :)**

 **Ps. I apologize if the cover image isn't working, it's a strange glitch that doesn't seem to go away. XP I'll work it out though. :)**

 **WARNING: T rating is for language, so be aware. :)**

 **With that said,**

 **Shall we? :)**

 _Flight 218_

 _15 Minutes Before Landing_

Caroline Huber did not like flying.

"Everyone, due to an unknown…*ahem*… _weather emergency_ …in New York City, we will be rerouting and making an emergency landing closer to Manhattan. Thank you for your patience, Stark Industries will be hard at work to pay fully for your next flight to New York City."

No, it wasn't the heights, nor the rumbling engines, the people hundreds of miles below. No, she knew the facts. She was smart for a sixteen year old, or so her parents said. She knew that plane crashes were uncommon.

It was the unpredictability that got her. And, no, she supposed it wasn't even really a _fear_ of flying, just a strong dislike. They were like an old married couple that endlessly bantered over stupid things.

Brushing a lock of shoulder length brown hair back over her ear, and adjusting her round brown glasses, Carrie turned to her younger sister with a smile.

"Hey, whatcha' reading?"

Her parents glance at her from two seats down.

Millie lifted the book she clutched with small olive fingers, revealing a cartoony turtle. Carrie's little sister looked up from her picture book and grinned. "Did you know that some turtles can live to be 200 years old?" the little Thai 8 year old asked, bright eyes shining in the dim lighting on the airplane. Carrie couldn't help but smile a little wider. "That's older than grandpa!" Millie marveled.

Carrie barked a laugh, startling the stewardess as she passed. "That's old!" Carrie chuckled, brushing her hand over her younger sister's deep black hair. Millie nodded and burrowed back into the pale pages.

Carrie on the other hand turned her attention back to the stewardess, who was arguing with man from the aisle. The young man, couldn't be more than two years older than Carrie herself, had his hands in his lap, and when he leaned forwards the sound of rattling metal sounded through the plane. _Handcuffs?_ Asked Carrie silently.

With a thick wave of dark blonde hair on his head, and a shit-eating grin on his face (Carrie mentally excused her language), the young man lowered his defined jaw and narrowed his steel gray eyes. Words left his lips, which had a cigarette pinched between them, and it bothered Carrie how smooth his voice was. Carrie listened closely, trying to hear what was obviously bothering the stewardess.

"Sir, we're going to have to ask you not to smoke inside the aircraft," muttered the woman.

"It's not lit," he returned, quiet but not too quiet.

"Doesn't matter, no smoking," the lady gestured to a sign above the seating, which read 'NO SMOKING' in large letters. "Your officer will be back in a moment, and I guarantee he won't tolerate smoking." She glanced at the handcuffs.

"It's a metaphor," he smirked, and Carrie swore she saw his eyes flick down from her face. The teenager frowned. _Did he seriously just reference Fault in Our Stars?_ She grumbled silently, unimpressed. She examined him a little closer, realizing that he was dressed in beat up Converse, black shorts, a button up blue flannel and a white muscle shirt.

Carrie looked down at her skinny jeans and button down red shirt, suddenly self-conscious.

That was when a boy, had to be Carrie's age, if not a year younger, with inky black hair that was bleached blonde in parts of the bangs, and an eye-catching bright red leather jacket over a blazing yellow and black zebra print muscle shirt and black skinny jeans. The clothing was crazed, but somehow worked together.

The boy, nose and chin matching what Carrie had deducted as his older brother's, although he had slightly more Asian features, had his arms packed with airplane snacks, and snickered upon arrival.

"What'd you do now, Don?" the boy asked with an good-hearted eye roll, peeking over the edges of bags of chips.

The stewardess eyed the snacks, blue eyes widening, "Where did you-?"

'Don' cut her off, "Screw you, Leo. I didn't do shit. What about you?" He eyed his little brother's snack horde.

'Leo' directed the answer at the stewardess, "I just found them laying around."

"Gentlemen, I'm going to have to call security if you don't stop," the stewardess warned, not looking threatening at all, mouth hanging open in stunned awe as she watched the younger boy seemingly materialize a glass of alcohol in his hand and take a sip. _He must of grabbed it when I wasn't looking?_ Carrie thought with a raised eyebrow.

"No need for that, darling," Don disagreed, returning to his charming demeanor.

Carrie frowned and glanced at Millie, who peered over the edge of her book at the two young men. "Hey, excuse me." Carrie called out, eyeing the two men. Neither seemed to notice, however a girl across the aisle, who had also caught the action, turned inquisitively at her.

The girl was older than Carrie by a few years, and wore a black zipped hoodie and _Adidas_ soccer pants. Her nose was pierced and complimented her tan skin and brown hair, which was drawn back under her hood. One earbud dangled, the other securely in her left ear. "Hey, 'scuse me, yea, you, the assholes by the stewardess?"

They both turned to her. 'Don' seemed a little aggravated at the intrusion, while 'Leo' simply appeared impressed.

"Can I help you?" Don asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Yea, hi, there are children on this airplane. If you wouldn't mind cutting the 'cute smoking guy' crap?" asked the young woman. Carrie's eyebrows shot upwards at the bold words, Don didn't seem offended, only his eyes narrowing and a small tick appearing in jaw.

"You think I'm cute?" he teased, bringing his head to his hands to remove the cigarette, placing it back into the box.

The girl rolled her eyes, the stewardess throwing both Carrie and the girl a thankful glance as she grabbed the box of cigarettes and scooted past Leo, snatching majority of his snacks as she passed and made her way to the cockpit. Just for kicks, it seemed, she grabbed the airplane's announcement phone and spoke clearly into it, eyeing the two boys the entire time.

"I would like to remind all passengers that smoking is prohibited on the vehicle while in flight. Thank you and have a nice time flying with Stark Industries."

Carrie held back a laugh, covering her mouth with her hand and looking over to the girl across the aisle.

"Sarah," the girl stuck out her hand. She seemed much friendlier, and her shoulders relaxed as she spoke to Carrie. "Sarah Ride." She smiled.

"Carrie Huber," Carrie grinned, taking her hand and shaking it. "Thanks for the help."

"Anytime," Sarah's delicate facial features crinkled. Carrie couldn't help but notice that her nose was a bit crooked. "Those guys were—" Sarah's eyes unfocused on Carrie and refocused on Millie, still buried in her book behind Carrie. "— _d-bags_ , huh?" she smirked.

"Yea. Real d-bags," chuckled Carrie. "I—"

And then the world shook.

 ** _~AVENGERS~_**

 _Flight 218_

 _10 Minutes Before Landing_

Lycan Cohen frowned as the entire plane shifted.

Damien was probably worried sick. His cousin lived deep in New York, and that's where Lycan was headed. He ran a hand through his light brown hair, which skimmed his ears, nervously, dark blue eyes darting around. He glanced again up to his seat number. 13.

Man, why did he have to get that number? Of all the numbers, why 13? Yea. He was one of those people. Superstitious? No. 13 is an evil number? Yes. 13 pet goldfish had died. 13 extremely rainy days that Lycan had gotten soaked on his way to school. 13 months of terrible _terrible_ voice cracks, right before he reached age 16 (his current age).

A shrill scream from the front of the plane made his entire slightly tanned form tense as he clutched the armrests of the seat. A scream cut in and out on the announcement speaker and an alarm suddenly started blaring, oxygen masks clicking out from a compartment in the ceiling. Lycan frowned, glancing at everyone else. He scrambled for the mask, nearly getting it over his head before another jerk in the flight sent Lycan's head slamming into the back of the seat in front of him and the air mask out of his hands.

Lycan felt weightless and the plane dipped, not alarmingly yet but not safely either. Many people were shouting now. Lycan leaned into the aisle frantically, trying to see what was—

Oh lord.

His eyes met a strange humanoid creature outside, riding some sort of strange alien vehicle. There was more than one and one or two had strange guns raised. Friggin aliens?! This is what he got for sitting in seat 13. God, Lycan, what were you thinking?!

He looked around frantically as some sort of greenish smog or smoke crept out around the floors. Lycan fidgeted, unsure if he should remove his seatbelt or tighten it. His eyes caught on a middle aged woman, who inhaled the gas before she could grasp her air mask. Her eyes fluttered, and her hand fell. Lycan's eyes widened. "Did she just die?!" he shouted loudly, voice splitting through the crowd.

He looked around, eyes flicking from one person to another as people began slumping in their seats.

More noise erupted immediately following his comment. He supposed he could've been more discrete, but now he was panicking further.

The sixteen year old turned at a tap on his shoulder.

An Asian teen, maybe 3 years older than him, was holding out his air mask, and yet somehow he couldn't figure out how to let go of his armrests.

"Hey! Calm down!" the girl shouted over the shouts of people and the beeping of the alarm. "Take this and put it on, we're gonna be fine! My name is Wren, okay? Can you say that for me? Wren." she smiled. It was fake, he knew, but with her straight black hair and dark knowing brown eyes, he somehow trusted her. He nodded quickly taking the air mask and—

"Wre—Look out!" Lycan shrieked immediately, his eyes finding the alien gun that had been pointed in their direction.

The next few moments, all Lycan could feel was blaring pain as he was ripped from his seat, seatbelt tearing as he was thrown into a cloud. For a moment, everything was black, but when he awoke his eyes saw an older woman, blood dripping from her nose as she fell weightlessly. He turned his head, neck aching, wind blasting his face as he realized he was no longer attached to his seat. His eyes fell onto a young man, shrieking, however his mouth was nearly open in a silent 'o'. The unusual part? The man was staring right at him and screaming at the top of his lungs.

Lycan blinked his wide blue eyes, ducking as glass shards whizzed past him at an alarming rate. He flipped and looked back up to see the plane, smoke billowing, near crashing a small distance away. He wouldn't be more than five minutes from the crash site. They were over some sort of forest.

The sixteen year old's breath caught in his throat as he glimpsed himself in a shard of glass. Just briefly. What he saw stunned him. Bright yellow eyes. Fangs. What the hell?! His eyes snapped to his fingers, where grotesque sharpened yellowy claws grew from his fingers.

He shouted, the sound lost in the wind, gagging when something grabbed him in a vice grip from behind, and his decent slowly abruptly. He turned his head at an uncomfortable angle, ears ringing.

"Wren…?" it came out as a silent pitch in his ears, and Lycan felt his eyes starting to close as he watched the man he had seen screaming early slam into the ground. He didn't survive. It was a lot to take in, especially on top of the fact that the Asian woman he had met minutes earlier was now hovering above him, slowly descending. She seemed confused herself, eyes closed tightly as if she was concentrating.

"It's okay, I have you," Wren promised, olive hands gripping his arms tightly. She opened one eye and tried not to wince.

"What's wrong?! What's going on?! What the _hell_ just happened?! What are _these?!_ " Lycan rambled, holding up his clawed hands only to see the claws slowly faded. An explosion echoed somewhere to his left.

He felt his feet touch the ground and everything spun and faded to black.

 ** _~AVENGERS~_**

 _Flight 218_

 _5 Minutes After Landing_

Scarlett McTavish's head was pounding.

On top of that, her hazel eyes were blown wide with shock, and her hands wouldn't stop shaking.

Oh, and did she mention the ghosts?

No, not men in white sheets. Strange bright blue figures with blurred edges and black smoking pits for eyes. A woman crying. A man curled up. A boy staring at a hole in his chest. They wandered the plane wreckage aimlessly, and captivated Scarlett.

 _"Where am I?"_

 _"What happened?"_

 _"Mom?"_

 _"I'm here."_

 _"Lily? Where's Lily?"_

 _"Carrie?"_

 _"I'm scared."_

She clutched her head, burrowing her thin near-white fingers in hair the color of a sunset. _Was everyone dead?_ She wondered darkly. Her pastel green jeans had ripped and her black t-shirt was worn out and dusted with ash. The sixteen year old had wandered from the wreckage minutes ago on shaky legs. No. Seconds ago? Hours ago? She had no idea. Her sense of time was gone.

"Go away," she whispered to herself, Scottish-laced voice cracking.

"S-Sir?"

Scarlett lifted her head, looking through the wreckage to see a girl, still locked into her seat. The seats had been thrown from the plane, and the girl—with shorter brown hair, wide hazel eyes and a tanned complexion, couldn't have been older than 17—was reaching for a bloodied man pinned in the seat next to her. His head was hanging, and Scarlett watched as the very same man—except glowing blue—walked up to the body and began sobbing.

 _"Am I dead?"_ he asked sorrowfully.

Scarlett tried to block him out, instead watching as the girl set her dainty hand on the man's shoulder. The man's suit jacket and skin seemed to disintegrate beneath her fingers, crumbling down to the fabric of the seat below and brushing onto the ground with a breeze. Scarlett gaped, scrambling backwards. The girl was shocked as well, frantically trying to flee from her seat, a whine escaping her lips.

"What?!" Ah!" the girl's seatbelt clicked and she threw herself to the ground and scrabbled back on all fours. "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod!" she panicked.

Scarlett found her footing, ignoring her instincts and heading for the girl.

"Hey," Scarlett said quietly as she approached. The girl on the ground held her hands in front of her like they were alien creatures, staring with wide eyes, her back turned to Scarlett. "Hey!" Scarlett repeated, a bit louder this time. The girl spun, basically throwing herself around and shoving a few feet away from Scarlett, holding her hands up.

"Ah!" the girl shouted, pure shock on her face. "What-?"

"Calm down," insisted Scarlett. "Hey!" she snapped her fingers to gain the girl's attention. A blue figure, a four year old girl, stumbled in front of Scarlett and she had to bite her tongue. "You couldn't do that before, right?"

"What?" repeated the girl, shock nearly setting in.

"That bloody trick you just pulled," answered Scarlett immediately, gesturing to the girl's hands.

"N-No," the girl shook her head. "N-No, of course not." She repeated with more confidence.

"Right, okay, good," Scarlett nodded to herself. "I—I have a similar situation." Scarlett encouraged, trying to ease the girl's nerves. "My name is Scarlett McTavish, alright? And…well…I think I might see dead people…"

"K-Kriselle Clearly," the girl announced. There a brief beat of silence. "Th-That's a classic movie line."

"Yea, it is, isn't it?" Scarlett cracked a small smile and offered her hand. Kriselle looked at it cautiously and then back at her own hands, shaking her head before standing without Scarlett's help.

"I don't want to hurt you…" she said quietly.

They both looked up as a scream ripped through the air.

 ** _~AVENGERS~_**

 _Flight 218_

 _6 Minutes After Landing_

Fia Woodruff screamed, lungs filling with panic as she was sent soaring into the air.

She had just wanted to disappear.

To leave.

To flee.

To fly.

She hadn't meant literally.

The pristine white wings beat strongly as she was propelled into the air uncontrollably.

"No!" she shrieked. "Go away! Stop!"

The 14 year old felt another scream rip from her throat as the wings sank back into her skin once again, feathers fleeing and fluttering down in spirals. There was a second of peace before she was falling weightlessly.

Her long brown hair, which matched her beautiful brown eyes, flew upwards as she fell downwards, and her red _Supernatural_ hoodie pressed against her uncomfortably with the wind, matching her jeans, which also shook uncontrollably as she fell.

As the ground neared, Fia saw a blur of red and black and suddenly she was tackled from the air, landing solidly in the arms of someone, who held her tightly in a bridal style hold. Wind hit her face even faster, but this time it came from her right, rather than all around. She opened her watery eyes to see wreckage passing in a blur. She turned her head, peering through her hair and looking up to see the face of a boy with a bright red leather jacket and a crazy yellow and black zebra print shirt. His inky black and blonde hair was slicked back with the wind, and a pair of brown aviator goggles kept the wind from his eyes.

A sudden turn and the sound of footsteps halting and they abruptly skidded to a stop, Fia nearly flying from the boy's arms. He immediately set her on her feet.

"You alright?" he asked.

"Y-Yea," Fia nodded unsurely.

A small crowd had gathered. A girl with ginger hair, a girl that seemed to be scared of her own hands, two girls supporting each other. A boy with light brown hair and an Asian girl were running towards them.

Fia looked around shakily. There was no one else. Her parents were still crumpled in their seats a dozen feet away. The fourteen year old's knees buckled and the boy caught her.

"Wow, okay, liar," he accused. "You're not okay, are you?"

"I—" Fia couldn't finish, instead her body decided that she should sit.

Apparently satisfied with Fia's current position, the boy turned to the crowd. "Names. I need names."

"What? Are you serious?" the ginger demanded. "You just saved her life and you're not even gonna explain?"

The boy shook his head, lifting his goggles to the top of his head. "Nope. Not now. No time." He seemed to be speaking at a thousand words a second, and Fia could barely get her head around it. "Names _please_." He switched his weight from foot to foot. If Fia didn't know better, she'd almost say he looked _bored_.

"Sarah Ride," a girl spoke up. The girl with a strange confidence about her, like she was uncomfortable around them but wanted to be brave. She supported another girl with cracked glasses.

"Carrie Huber," Glasses added, adjusting said glasses and wincing as a crack resounded from her ribs.

"Scarlett McTavish," it was the ginger, who seemed to favor an ankle.

"Wren Williams," the silent Asian that had just arrived, who seemed oblivious to the scrapes around her neck and shoulders.

"Lycan Cohen," a strange boy with light brown hair and dark blue eyes—Fia swore they flickered yellow as he reached up to gingerly touch his bloodied hairline.

"Kriselle Clearly," the girl that was scared of her own hands, and who sported a split lip.

Fia was obviously the youngest here. "F-Fia Woodruff…" she managed as everyone turned to her expectantly as she debated whether she could stand again.

"Leonel Sterling," the boy smirked, a small cut above his eye leaking blood into his lashes. "My brother, Donovan? He's hurt. Trapped, actually. He won't say it but we could use a hand."

"You're nervous," Carrie said suddenly, furrowing her brows as if she was trying to figure out something.

"Am not," Leonel disagreed immediately, although Fia swiftly knew that he was lying and taken aback by her guess.

 ** _~AVENGERS~_**

 _Flight 218_

 _8 Minutes After Landing_

"Damn 13," Lycan muttered. Leonel turned to him and they held a gaze for a second before splitting it. Fia pretended not to notice Lycan's blush.

As it turned out, and as Wren quickly realized, Leonel's brother Donovan wasn't so much 'trapped' as 'injured'.

By the time the group of teenagers had arrived, Donovan had freed himself from under hundreds of pounds of metal. Obviously, while Wren had gained the ability of gravity manipulation (which included manipulating her own gravity), the older boy now had super strength.

"You okay?" Leonel asked, darting around in a blur as he poked and prodded his brother. Wren had marked him a speedster, as he was very clearly faster than most.

Donovan was anything but amused. "Lay off." He snapped. "I'm fine." He winced as Sarah finished up his makeshift stiches. She'd admitted to having no training whatsoever, but Leonel had offered his advice. He was originally going to perform the stitches himself, but his hands were shaking so fast that they swirled in blurry messes.

"So?" Leonel continued, rapid-firing his questions. "What can we all do? Anything useful? If we're all in the same boat, we can all do something new, right? I want to know powers. What're we going to do? S.H.I.E.L.D. is gonna take us in. We're gonna be arrested. They'll think the crash was our fault probably, I mean I doubt any security footage on the plane survived so we can't just say 'aliens' and hope that they believe us. That sounds stupid. I could probably say it. They might believe me. People tend to think I'm stupid but I helped you with your stitches, didn't I Don? And—" a hand slapped over Leonel's mouth. The younger boy had burned two skid marks into the dirt from his pacing and couldn't seem to focus.

Wren watched his older brother glare him down, but she could easily see through to his gentleness towards his brother. "Easy there, Pace." He said, appearing sarcastic. "You're gonna start a friggin' fire."

"Pace, hm. Not bad." Commented Leo.

"He forgot his meds back home," grumbled Donovan to the group as Leo rambled off on another topic. "Just ignore him."

"He's..." Carrie cringed visibly. "…experiencing a lot of emotions…"

"He did have a point though," Kriselle spoke up. "I mean, we _are_ all in the same boat—er…plane—"

"Too soon," Leonel chimed, although he was grinning.

"—Right, um, but anyways, we all have new powers, correct? I couldn't…do _this stuff_ …before this," Kriselle finished, holding out her hands again.

"Point taken. What're your guys names?" Donovan questioned, eyebrows lifting and lips pressing together.

Leonel intruded quickly, " _SarahKriselleLycanCarrieScarlettFia_ " his hand darted around, pointing at everyone. His voice sounded like a recording that had been fast-forwarded. "And…."

"Wren," Wren spoke evenly.

"And Wren," he nodded.

"Right…" Donovan sighed. "Okay, well, what can we all do?" A flicker of flame sprouted from his fingertips. "'Cause I've got fire and enhanced strength. I could do the fire for a while, though."

"I'm fast," smirked Leonel. " _Really_ fast. But that's not new."

"I seem to be able to control gravity," Wren said easily, focusing on calming herself.

Donovan growled as his hand was soaked, sizzling and dripping water in the aftermath. He snapped is gaze to Sarah, who debated backing away, but stood her ground. "Water, I guess…"

"Bad stuff," Kriselle muttered. "I can…um…disintegrate things…?"

"That would make taking out the trash so much easier," commented Lycan. Everyone turned to him. "Oh, um, I'm a werewolf." He said proudly. "Well, except not just on full moons. I…I don't really know how it works yet…" he admitted, lowering his head.

"None of us do," eased Carrie. "I can feel emotions, if that wasn't obvious."

"I can grow wings?" Fia inquired. "I don't know." She sighed defeated.

"We'll figure it out," promised Scarlett as she set an easing hand on Fia's shoulder. The girl gave her a thankful smile. "For a while now I've been able to predict the future. Kind of. I see things. Visions. But…after the crash…well…I can see spirits? I don't know if there's anything else."

"Well, looks like we've got a good old fashioned team of superheroes," Donovan clapped his hands once, standing up. "Or rather, supervillains." Sirens blared in the distance. "We should move. A bunch of Supers as the only survivors of a plane crash? This won't look pretty."

So they ran.

 **And that finishes off our first chapter. :)**

 **Kindly let me know how I did via review or PM or both. ;) Everything and anything is greatly appreciated.**

 **I will see you all soon. I hope I did okay. :)**

 **Till next time!  
-AG**


	4. Fall to Try

Chapter 2-

 **WARNING: References to drugs and adult themes may occur in this story. I forgot to mention that last chapter. ;)**

 **Welcome back ladies and gents! Let's continue this story,**

 **Shall we?**

 _Flight 218 Wreckage_

 _100 Miles from New York City_

Sarah just wanted to get back to Lilly. Lilly was like her little sister. She'd raised her like a daughter. The 9 year old was still back in Massachusetts, and Sarah was determined to adopt her. But now what? Now they were on the run. She couldn't risk it. And what had Lilly heard? Had she heard about the plane crash?

With both hands, Sarah swept her brown hair back away from her face and pulled the elastic band from her wrist, wrapping her chocolate brown hair in a tight ponytail. She pulls up her hood as a drop of rain pecks her on the nose. Then another on her cheek. And another on the fabric of her hood.

Lycan sighed loudly and Sarah turned to see him glaring at the suitcase in his hand, which had the brand 'Thirteen Suitcases' scrawled on the front.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me," he grumbled, dropping the suitcase and the candy that he had pulled from it.

Sarah smiled and set a hand on his shoulder. "Come on," she said encouragingly. "Get in the van, we'll find more candy when we get out of here."

"Sick," grinned Lycan. "Man, I'm so hungry." He turned to Wren, who smiled faintly.

"Agreed," she nodded. "I could go for a coffee." She ran a hand through her midnight black hair and gave a long sigh, stepping into the van.

They'd found the van after some scouting on Leo's part. He'd hotwired the thing and brought it back, letting Donovan swap out the plates. It worried Sarah that they seemed to have experience.

The van itself had 11 spaces for people (including the driver and passenger seats), 3 rows of three-seated bench seats and the two seats in the front, plus a bit of trunk space. Donovan had ripped out the back row to free up storage space, which was currently being quickly filled with suitcases, bags of food. This left 8 seats for people, and a bit of extra trunk space. Two of the six windows could open, along with the back doors and a sunroof. It was _luxurious_ compared to the hatchback Sarah used to drive.

"This sucks ass. This miss my Ducati." Donovan cursed bitterly. Sirens could be heard distantly, nearing quickly, so he sped up the process of packing by snatching up all of the remaining suitcases that were still being looked through and dumping them in the back. "We can search on the way."

He held his hand up, pointing at the sky and drawing a circle. "Everybody in. Let's get moving."

Sarah, being the oldest as she had discovered, slipped into the passenger's seat. It had quickly been deduced that Donovan was the best driver, as he had competed in a dozen or so car races. Sure, they were illegal and for money, and as much as Sarah didn't trust the boy who had been in handcuffs on the plane and still not brought it up, she let him drive because then he was vulnerable.

And being the only one with hydrokinesis, it seemed that it was up to her to keep him in check. Well, her and Leo. Speaking of which…

"Can't I just run?" Leo whined, staring at the van like it was that one unwanted pair of socks you get every Christmas. "I can stay with you guys, I'll be fine…"

"No," Donovan shook his head. "No way. You're gonna get distracted by a bird or something and then what?" Sarah turned back to Leo to find him not listening, instead having found interest in something in the back. Donovan snapped his fingers harshly.

"What—Aw that's not fair," Leo pouted, reminding Sarah of Thumper as he tapped his foot at an impossible speed. "I can pay attention if I try."

"Great. Pay attention in the van," Sarah's eyebrows lifted and she gave him a teasing smile.

"Guys, the police are getting closer," Kriselle chimed. The poor girl wasn't comfortable touching things at first but Carrie had taken to helping ease her fears, touching grass and rocks as the others packed. Wren had helped her focus a bit more, and now her powers seemed to be at least a little more under control.

"She's right," nodded Lycan. Sarah forced the shock back down when she saw that his ears had pointed slightly and that his eyes were yellow, fangs slipping down from his teeth. "I can hear them. Five miles. Four."

"Here, let me help you," Scarlett urged to Leo, taking a step forward as he continued to tap his foot and fidget endlessly. She set her hands on his shoulders and closed her eyes, everyone watching curiously. Leo's eyebrows furrowed, as did Scarlett's, and Scarlett flinched before Leo's eyes rolled back and he nearly fell, instead getting caught by his brother.

"The hell did you do?!" Donovan demanded. "Leonel?!"

Sarah titled her head. So Donovan _did_ care about his brother.

"I'm fine," Leonel persuaded, eyes blinking open. "What _was_ that, exactly?" he looked up at Scarlett.

"I've been able to do it since I was 10," announced the 16 year olds. "I can drain people's energy. You…you have a lot." She admitted. "You're at a normal rate now, your ADD shouldn't be bad."

Leonel got back to his feet, no longer fidgeting as much, instead smiling at her. "I might need you to do that again if I can't find my meds. Thanks."

Scarlett nodded and Sarah ushered them all into the van. Donovan slipped on his cunning mantra and entered the driver's seat with a door slam.

Fia Woodruff, the fourteen year old with wings, was the first to enter the van. She slipped into the farthest back bench seat, sliding all the way over to the window seat. Kriselle followed, taking the middle seat, and Scarlett took the last seat.

In the bench in front of them, Lycan sat behind Donovan in the window seat. Wren took the middle seat, and Carrie took up the final seat. Leonel jumped in the back, Donovan commanding him to keep looking through luggage for ADD/ADHD meds, as someone had to have some. The boy did just that, closing both doors behind him.

With that, Donovan slammed on the gas.

 _ **~AVENGERS~**_

 _The Van_

Carrie sat quietly, peering out the one-way windows of the van. They'd escaped fifteen minutes before the police had arrived, according to Lycan, and taken an alternate route, buying them an extra hour or so to find somewhere safe before the police found the tire tracks.

She looked up at a tap on her shoulder. Wren gazed down at her with easy brown eyes. She blinked back up curiously at the older girl.

"How are you?" the question blew Carrie away. No one had asked her that since the crash. She looked around the van nervously. She wasn't one for putting emotions on her sleeve; she loved doing things for people, just not flashing her own feelings everywhere.

Lycan was dozing, head resting against the window. Scarlett and Kriselle were making small talk, while Fia read a crumpled comic book she must have found in the luggage. Leo continued to dig around in the bag, zippers unzipping and re-zipping over and over again. Donovan focused on driving, having turned on rock music at a low volume, while Sarah searched through a couple carry-on backpacks in an attempt to help Leo out.

Carried turned back to Wren, who raised an eyebrow, awaiting an answer. "Not…great…" she admitted. "My…My sister and my parents were…" She bit her lip. "They might be back there."

Wren didn't say anything to that for a moment. "No…I'm sorry…" she finally said, frowning.

For some unusual reason, Carrie didn't cry. Maybe it was the shock or maybe she had accepted it already, because she didn't cry. Not one tear. Instead, she nodded reluctantly and turned back to the window. "Yea." She whispered. "I know."

"What were they like?" Wren asked. Carrie set her head on Wren's shoulder, sighing.

"They were…I dunno…they were…" An ache in her head made her tense. _Millie, I miss her_.

"Beautiful," Wren said suddenly in surprise. "Millie was adorable…"

Carrie sat up. "What?"

"I—I don't know, I saw this girl," Wren looked equally as startled. "M-Millie?"

"That's my sister," Carrie said quietly. "You saw her? When?"

"Just now," Wren frowned, raising one shoulder in a half-shrug. "Was it your powers? It certainly wasn't mine."

"Are you telling me that we have powers we don't know about?" chimed Scarlett from behind the two girls. "Bloody hell." She muttered. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure," Carrie admitted.

"Something happened when you touched me. I heard your voice. I saw your sister," Wren explained.

Lycan shifted, one eye fluttering open. "What's going on?"

"Carrie might new abilities," explained Sarah from the front seat.

"What?! That's awesome!" Lycan's eyebrows raised and he leaned forwards so he could see around Wren. "What are they?!"

"Some sort of mental communication, it seems. But only with contact," sighed Wren.

"Does that mean we could all do more?" Kriselle inquired, looking fearfully at her hands and lifting them from where they rested on the car seat, instead moving them to her lap.

"Yes," chirped Fia.

The group turned, Donovan peering into the mirror, to find Fia staring, lizard scales covering her face and hands and a lizard-like tail slowly growing longer until it came to a rest curled on the seats and Kriselle's lap.

There was a beat of silence.

Kriselle screamed loudly.

Scarlett immediately started shouting at Kriselle to calm down.

Leonel was thrown around in the back, cursing as he was buried in a pile of clothing and airplane food.

Sarah released a shout of surprise at the sudden burst of noise, dropping the backpack she was holding.

Donovan swerved the car, and growled angrily at Sarah and Kriselle for startling him.

Wren winced at the loud noise.

Lycan cheered, amazed by how cool Fia looked.

Carrie cringed at all the emotions, feeling achy and nauseous.

"Ah! Make it stop!"

"Calm down! Kris! Stop!"

"Donovan, what the hell?!"

"What is going on?!"

"Shut up!"

"Can we please stop?!"

"That is so cool!"

"Guys, stop!"

"Wow!"

"Donovan, you asshole!"

"What is happening?!"

"How do I stop it?!"

"Stop panicking!"

"SHUT UP!"

Accompanying the angry shout was fiery fists and the brakes being slammed on as they came to a screeching halt in the middle of the empty road. Leo flew into the back seats, emerging with a cut over his nose, and everyone else thanked their seatbelts silently.

Donovan quickly extinguished his fists. "What the _hell_ was that?!" he demanded furiously. "We can't just freak the hell out anytime something happens!"

Carrie was dead silent, as were the rest, like they were being scolded by a parent and knew they did something wrong. Muttering of 'sorry' and 'my bad' danced around.

"Alright then." Donovan grumbled, accelerating once more and, after a beat of tense silence, turning up his rock music a little louder and rolling down the front two windows just a crack.

Carrie frowned.

"That was a lot of emotion, huh?" Wren inquired, turning to her.

"Yea," she nodded, still feeling achy. "That wasn't fun."

Carrie turned back to the window.

Would she ever be able to survive a battle if it came down to it?

 _ **~AVENGERS~**_

 _The Van_

Scarlett glanced over to Fia as she closed her eyes to rest for the night. She'd gotten her abilities under control but what could they mean? So she was more than one animal? Wings and scales? She didn't understand.

The sun was setting now, but they were only about a dozen miles from the edge of New York City. Fia handed Lycan her comic book and he gave her a look of gratitude, beginning to read it at a leisurely pace. Donovan had leaned back in his seat, one hand on the wheel, his music long turned off. Sarah scanned the exterior of the car, watching every fifteen minutes when a car would pass by.

Kriselle had fallen asleep, along with Carrie. Wren seemed to be deep in thought, although her eyes were closed and she appeared to be meditating? Scarlett wasn't an expert. She didn't know. Another curse behind her, and Scarlett unbuckled her seatbelt, earning a narrowing of the eyes from Donovan. She got up on her knees, setting her elbows on the backrest of her seat and gazing back at Leonel.

The reaper— _hm, Reaper, that's catchy_ —squinted in the dark van, waiting for her eyes to adjust. She was met by a dejected Leonel, back against one of the van walls and legs pulled up to his chest. His hands were shaking. Scarlett narrowed her eyes. Propping her hands on her seat, she carefully slid over her seat (careful, as not to bump Kriselle or Fia), and landed with a thud in the back. Don peered at her in the mirror. The van shook as it drove, so she didn't dare stand up, instead crawling over to Leo and sitting next to him.

"No luck?" she asked quietly.

He didn't seem to hear her, staring at the floor with dazed eyes, clenching his hands before wiping his palms on his pants.

"Leo?" she asked again, setting a hand on his shoulder.

His gaze snapped to her immediately. "What?" he inquired. His face was sweaty, some of his hair matted down and his hands didn't seem to stop shaking. Scarlett looked over to the discarded bags of food across the van, all crumpled and empty.

"Did you eat all of those?" she asked, not angrily but more so surprised.

Leo frowned, "Apparently." He nodded.

"He has to eat a lot," chimed Donovan from the front. "Increased metabolism."

"Oh," Scarlett turned back to Leo, who looked like he was going to be sick to his stomach. "Are you okay?" Once again, he didn't seem to hear her. She reached out again, now nervous, but was quickly stopped by Donovan.

"Are you?" Donovan's brows were furrowed and sounded genuinely concerned.

"Yea…m'fine," agreed Leo, avoiding Scarlett's gaze.

"You're not," she pressed her hand to his tiredly, taking his temperature. "You're burning up." She announced.

"Leo, the hell is wrong with you?" Donovan demanded.

"You calling me hot?" he inquired to Scarlett, resting his head on his knees and completely ignoring Donovan.

Scarlett dropped her voice to a whisper, "Hey, you need to tell me what's wrong. I won't tell him."

Leo opened his mouth to answer, wide eyes blinking at her in consideration. That was when a siren flicked on behind them.

"Shit," cursed Donovan in the front.

"Were you speeding?" Sarah demanded, turning sharply to Donovan.

"No! I'm not an idiot!" Donovan snapped back. "They must of tracked us down from before somehow."

"The tire tracks," remarked Carrie intelligently, awakened by the noise.

"Are we gonna run?" Fia asked, sounding frightened.

Kriselle put an arm over her shoulders comfortingly. "We have to." She nodded. "If they catch us we're definitely going to be arrested."

"You really think they'll think it's our fault? Just because we have powers?" Lycan frowned.

"Yea, with whatever's going on in New York, they need someone to blame for accidents," Wren nodded. "Which sounds better for the government? A plane that was left unprotected and crashed? Or a plane that was attacked by rebellious Supers?"

Lycan looked to his feet. "Definitely the second one."

"Exactly," Donovan sighed. "So buckle up."

 _ **~AVENGERS~**_

 _The Van_

 _2 Miles From New York_

Yea, okay, so maybe Donovan was concerned about his little brother, but he couldn't focus on that if he wanted to get them out of this.

In the rearview mirror the flame-wielder spotted three squad cars on their tails. The group had reached the city and the number of cars had increased in the past half an hour or so, so Donovan was careful to swerve in and out of traffic. He'd listened to the radio on the way up, and knew the current situation.

Aliens had invaded New York, aliens and some asshole called Loki. So to stop them, a team of superheroes from all around the world had come together to stop him. Donovan only heard of a couple. Iron Man. Captain America. Hawkeye. He wasn't familiar with the rest, and didn't keep up with the superhero news.

The attack was mainly just the center of New York City, and it definitely hadn't hit the outskirts, where Donovan drove the van currently. The outskirts were untouched, people continuing on like normal—well, scared, but normal. Donovan assumed that him driving like a madman through their city wasn't helping ease nerves, but he didn't care. He loved this. He loved driving like this. Swerving turns and constantly accelerating. The only thing that could make this better was if the van was replaced by a 1969 Ford Mustang, or even better, his Ducati Panigale R, which could reach 202 mph. Man, he missed his bike.

"So we're fugitives now?!" Fia shouted over screeching tires and sirens.

"Now?! Always have been!" Donovan retorted, earning an untrusting shocked stare from Sarah.

"I knew it!" she snapped loudly, holding on to the door and armrest for support. "You have _so_ much explaining to do!"

"We'll have time later, beautiful!" he winked, focusing back on driving and ignoring her look of disgust.

"Can you please save your flirting for later and get us out of here?" Lycan asked politely, even going so far as to force a smile.

Donovan slammed the breaks when another squad car appeared, swerving left and slamming his horn when some lady nearly started crossing the street. Glancing at his mirrors, he gunned it once more and continued to dart and weave down the road.

"Where are we going?" Wren asked, one arm protectively holding Lycan to his seat.

"Don and I have a friend nearby," Leo explained, looking nauseous. Scarlett had one arm over his shoulders and the other holding tightly to the back of the seats, so that they weren't being thrown around with each turn.

"A friend?" Kriselle sounded skeptical. "Good friend or bad friend?"

Donovan barked a laugh, recalling a memory of said person pulling a bottle of wine from Donovan's hands. "He lives with us. Good. Very good. Way too good, if you ask me."

"Aren't we gonna lead the police right to them?"

"Nope," Donovan's tongue was sticking out with concentration as he glanced back at the squad cars once more. "Because at the next turn I'm gonna speed up and we're all gonna jump out. There's a hill, the van will roll for a while. They don't know what we look like. Our guy is only a few streets away."

"Are you serious?!" Fia demanded with a squeak.

"Dead," he nodded. "You got any better ideas?"

Silence.

"Then let's go."

Everyone tense, the car swerved, and they flew into action.

 _ **~AVENGERS~**_

 _The Streets of New York_

It was raining.

Kriselle liked the rain.

Donovan apparently didn't, and he'd pulled up his hood and walked solemnly at the head of the group. The police had fallen for the trick, chasing the van as it barreled down the road at full speed, empty. Wren just prayed that no one had been in its path as it ran uncontrolled down the hill. They'd all drawn their hoods and done their best to look shocked as the police cars passed, like they were just bystanders that had seen it happen. Then they walked, and it rained.

It was night now, just barely, the streetlights recently flickering on.

Donovan and Sarah led the group, although Sarah seemed to take a deputy position, keeping Donovan in check. Behind them walked Carrie and Fia, who kept each other company and discussed Carrie's abilities quietly, Fia listening in awe. Wren chatted with Lycan about life before the crash. After them came Scarlett, Leo and Kriselle.

And if she was being honest, Kriselle was growing concerned.

"Leo, I'm not going to stop bothering you until you tell us what's wrong," Scarlett announced. From their few hours together, Kriselle had learned that the girl was intensely kind and caring, constantly worrying, while Kriselle herself was more on the curious side.

Leo, on the other hand, was stubborn as all heck and got bored easily. He'd been avoiding the subject the entire walk, and—yep, here we go again. "I stole your watch."

Kriselle paused, furrowing her brows. "What?" She looked down at her wrist and, sure enough, her wrist was bare. "What?" she repeated, staring at it.

He pulled the watch from his pocket. "I stole it. Sorry."

Clasping the watch again, Kriselle looked over to Scarlett, who looked equally confused.

"And Sarah's headphones," Sarah looked over her shoulder with a raised eyebrow. "Donovan's cigs. Fia's comic." He counted on his fingers. "I took 3 wallets on the plane, too. Oh, and two necklaces. You can have them back, I just…wanted them..." he tossed the headphones at Sarah, who caught them with ease, and then returned his gaze to his feet. He was still feeling sick, Kriselle could tell, but he'd returned to a relatively upbeat personality again. "They're probably dead anyways," he sighed.

"You're a kleptomaniac," Scarlett blurted suddenly. All eyes, even those who pretended not to listen, looked over.

"A what?" Kriselle and Leo asked in unison.

"Kleptomaniac. You steal things without meaning to," Scarlett explained. "My uncle was a kleptomaniac, but he could never get stuff without getting caught. You though," she chuckled, her Scottish ancestry showing with it. "Man, you have super speed, so it must be easy."

"I…I guess?" Leo looked to Kriselle, who shrugged. "I've been stealing crap for a while. It's just kinda what I do…"

Scarlett stopped smiling at that. "What you do? What _do_ you do? You and your brother, I mean. Before this."

They came upon an old warehouse and Donovan turned, walking up to the door and letting them in with a key.

"Random stuff. Does it matter?" Leo shrugged, seemingly uncomfortable.

Under the lighting of the streetlight, Kriselle realized he was just as pale as in the van and still sweating. Donovan finally got the key in and opened the door, as Kriselle entered she felt her jaw drop.

The place was large and open, one of the most beautiful studio spaces she'd ever seen. It had obviously been a small warehouse that had been converted into a home and garage.

A three person red sofa and two gray chairs, a coffee table, and a fireplace made up the living room. A kitchen was connected to it, with a small television connected to the wall, a marble island, a fridge, etc. To her right, Kriselle could see a door that led to the garage, where she spotted two motorcycles and the hood of a car. To her right was two more doors, one to what she presumed was a bathroom and the other to a bedroom.

A staircase lead up to a loft, where a desk and windows could be seen, giving a view of the city street. Two more doors to bedrooms along with a foldout couch could also be found. The walls were beige and brown bricks with paintings and art hung here and there.

There was a stunned silence and everyone froze except for Donovan, who continued to walk, tossing his keys into a bowl on the counter and removing his soaked flannel and chucking it the sofa. He opened the fridge casually and pulled out a bottle of wine, pulling out the cork with his teeth.

"I did that one," Leo announced, pointing to an okay—well, actually it was gorgeous—watercolor of flowers. Immediately after the silence was broken, questions erupted.

"You live here?!"

"Yes," answered Donovan with a sigh as he pulled a glass.

"This is yours?!"

"Mhm," nodded Leo as he stripped of his red leather jacket, leaving him in just his yellow and black zebra print muscle shirt.

"This place is huge!" Kriselle exclaimed with wide eyes.

"Wait till you see the garage," chuckled Don.

"I thought you two were broke."

"I told you, we steal things," Leo sighed.

"This is insane!"

"Isn't it though?" Donovan smirked, very obviously enjoying himself.

"How do you pay for this?!"

"It's not technically legal," answered Leo. "The government thinks it's a Stark Industries Warehouse, 'cause a buddy of ours hacked their system."

"This is beautiful."

"Thanks, I know," grinned Donovan. He sipped his wine. "You all can crash here for—"

"Donovan? Leonel?"

All heads turned to a young boy standing in the door, a little older than Leo and a little younger than Don. He had dark blonde hair spiked up in the front, a healthy tan and dark hazel eyes. He wore a black muscle shirt with some band scrawled on it in red lettering, and bright turquoise skinny jeans with black Converse. He'd dropped the leash in his hand, which was connected to the collar of a massive German Shepard.

"Jack!" Donovan cheered as the German Shepard barreled towards him.

"Lane, hi," Leo scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

Kriselle looked back and forth between them. He'd obviously wanted to dry off their guests beforehand.

"So…um…" Leo winced. "How was your walk?"

 **Ta da. :) Let me know what you thought, I had a lot of fun with this chapter. I hope to update again tomorrow, so look forwards to that.**

 **What's your theories? What do you think is wrong with Leo? I'll tell you one thing: ITS NOT BECAUSE OF SCARLETT.**

 **Alright, I've got to get back to the Doctor Who I'm watching. ;)**

 **Please drop a review!**

 **Till next time!**

 **-AG**


	5. Try to Fail

Chapter 3-

 **Happy holidays everyone. :)**

 **I apologize for a slightly later updating time. :)**

 **Shall we?**

 _Don and Leo's Warehouse_

 _Eastern New York City_

"I thought you guys were _dead_."

As it turned out, 'Lane' was a good guy, and Scarlett had been mistaken to be skeptical. He was 16 and that's just about everything she knew about him. In the five minutes that they'd been here he'd switched from furious, to sobbing, to flustered, to apologetic and then finally back to angered.

"Why didn't you call me?!" Lane demanded loudly, directing his gaze to Leo. "I knew Don wouldn't, but I figured you would!"

"I'm _sorry_ , Lane, okay?" Leo sighed, lying back on the couch.

Lane frowned, staring at his feet. He ran his hands through his hair and nodded. "Okay." Looking around at everyone still standing, damp, he seemed startled. "Sorry, I'm sorry, here, um—Don, grab some towels, please?"

Shockingly enough, Scarlett watched as Don set his glass down without argument and walked into one of the other rooms, coming back out with colored and patterned towels. He chucked a different color at each person.

Scarlett caught a blue plaid and wrapped it around her shoulders.

"We have spare clothes. They're guys clothes mostly…" Lane scratched the back of his head, looking around at all the girls. "But, I have some girls clothes. Hang on, let me go look."

Lane stood and brushed himself off, heading for the stairs.

"Sorry, um," Sarah spoke up, raising her hand. "Who are you? I'm sorry. We're exhausted, and this is basically your house, right?"

"No, it's fine. It's the three of ours, yea," Lane nodded. "My name is Lancelot Dominic Drew Alexander Briar-Cooper…" he smirked at the furrowed brows and confused faces. "It's a lot, I know."

Scarlett raised an eyebrow. "Yea, that's…a mouthful." She admitted.

"Most people just call me Lane Alexander," he smiled. "It's way easier to say and remember."

"Lane Alexander it is," nodded Lycan. "So…Are you gay?" he blurted, and Wren turned sharply to him, slapping him upside the head. " _What?_ " Lycan demanded.

"Yea, actually," laughed Lane. "We'll keep talking in a bit. Let me get you guys some clothes."

Scarlett watched Fia and Lycan trail after him curiously, while Sarah, Carrie and Wren took to the kitchen with Donovan. She and Kriselle looked at each other, noticing as Leonel slipped into the downstairs bedroom.

They followed him, entering a dark room with steel gray carpets and black walls. Posters covered nearly every inch of the walls, mostly band posters or drawings. A bed—well, a mattress on a wiry frame—sat in the middle of the room on an angle, and big fur and knit blankets covered it in a pile. Three pillows lay abandoned on the floor near a desk covered in pizza boxes and a clothes dresser with one of the drawers busted off its hinges. A closet in the wall was open and, shockingly enough, it was the tidiest thing in the room, clothes of various colors were lined up neatly.

"So…" Kriselle frowned. "I take it this is your room, then?"

"Yea," Leo nodded, flopping down on the pile of blankets and peering over the opposite side, digging around.

"Should I ask what you're looking for?" Scarlett inquired, awkwardly stepping over an ash tray and a half-eaten bag of Doritos.

"My meds," he stated, peeking his head over the edge of the bed and tilting it. "Wasn't that obvious?"

"In this mess? No," Scarlett answered, shaking her head. She and Kriselle made their way over to the bed and sat down.

"Comfortable, right?" Leo snickered, "Lane said I should actually _make_ my bed, but this is way better." He tossed a big brown fur blanket at Scarlett and she was buried beneath it, fighting her way back to oxygen and wrapping the blanket around her shoulders, hair static-filled and floating. Kriselle held back a laugh before getting assaulted by a white fur blanket herself. Kriselle took it and got up, searching for a mirror in Leo's cabinet.

Scarlett laughed, honestly enjoying herself and turning to Leo as he sighed and sat up, bringing up a wooden box.

He opened it and she felt her smile fall.

The box contained several bright orange cylindrical containers with white caps. Scarlett stared at Leo and he looked away.

"What?" he asked. Kriselle glanced over, but turned back to the cabinet, obviously trying to ignore it.

"Leo, that's a _lot_ ," Scarlett said uneasily.

"Yea, well, my high metabolism makes the drugs wear off too fast." He shrugged half-heartedly, swiping a bottle and clicking open the cap. "So I just take some until I feel…I dunno… _better_ …" He popped a small handful in his mouth and swallowed them dry.

"The prescription says _two_ ," Scarlett said sternly, taking the bottle from him and double checking it. _Two_ was clearly written. "Oh my god, Leo! You can't do this!" Scarlett snapped angrily. "Give me the bloody pills. You're done."

"No," argued Leo, snatching the box and disappearing in a blur as he hid them. He returned back to his sitting place and Scarlett glared at his reddened eyes. "I need them, okay? I hate feeling sick and I _hate_ not being able to pay attention. It friggin _sucks_."

"Leo, did you ever stop to consider that the reason you don't pay attention is because of the withdrawal?" Kriselle was worried, while Scarlett was more pissed. "Lack of concentration is a really common side effect…"

"You're a junkie." She snapped. She knew she was being hard, but she couldn't stand drug abuse. Her cousin had overdosed and it pissed her off. "You weren't sick! You were in withdrawal!"

"I'm _not_ a junkie," Leo snapped back, looking guilty but angered. They sat in tense silence. "I just…" he scratched the back of his neck, already staring at some place Scarlett couldn't see. "…I dunno…they help…" he repeated. It took him a good couple of minutes to gather his thoughts. "Don't tell Lane."

"Why shouldn't we?!" Scarlett whisper shouted.

"Donovan already drinks way too much!" returned Leo in a whisper-shout, snapping his bloodshot eyes over to the two girls. "Lane's always cleaning up after that asshole! I don't wanna put more on him! I've got it under control, okay?!"

"What about Donovan?" Kriselle brought up, crossing her arms and walking over.

"I've told him three times," sighed Leo as he laid back on his bed and burrowed under the blankets. "He just drinks until he forgets again." There was a pause and Leo closed his eyes. "If anyone asks…" he picked up a pillow from the floor and tucked it under his head. "…just…just tell them I'm sleeping…"

Scarlett got to her feet, walking with Kriselle over to the door. They looked around the room once more.

"Do we tell?" Kriselle asked in a whisper.

Scarlett bit her tongue. She hated this. "Not yet." She finally announced.

Leo rolled over with a dopey grin on his face. "Oh…hey guys…when'd you get here?"

Scarlett rolled her eyes and opened the door, letting Kriselle out before following.

The addiction wasn't his fault, she knew it. His increased metabolism obviously made them wear off faster as he got older, so he'd attempted to raise the dosage to match the metabolism, only to end up getting himself addicted. At this rate he was probably taking pills every hour or so.

She closed the door behind them and felt the tension release from her shoulders.

"Where's Leo?" Donovan asked from the kitchen, now sipping a beer.

Kriselle and Scarlett glanced at each other, Scarlett sternly looking at the floor.

Kriselle spoke up, voice wavering at first. "He's sleeping…"

 _ **~AVENGERS~**_

 _Lane's Bedroom_

 _Don and Leo's Warehouse_

Lycan sat down on the checkered black and white comforter, which laid upon a neatly made bed. The entire room was neatly made, actually.

A dresser with neatly stacked magazines and a mirror hanging above it sat to his left, and photos had been pinned to the mirror. One was of Lane forcing Donovan into a selfie, another was Leo blushing furiously as Lane pecked his cheek under mistletoe. He turned back to find Fia admiring a fur coat hanging on the door, and Lane sifting through his clothes in his closet.

"So…are you guys a thing?" Lycan inquired, glancing back at the photo on the mirror. He didn't want to be with Leo, but he Leo and Lane were _both_ attractive, and after all that they had been through, Lycan figured it would be tricky to get a guy.

"Who?" Lane pulled out a white muscle shirt. "Here, try this." He tossed it at Lycan.

"Leo and you," Lycan tried to play it casual, slipping his wet shirt off and toweling off before putting on the white one. Fia raised an eyebrow when Lycan kept his glance on Lane's ass a bit long, and smirked, to which Lycan blushed and looked away.

Lane laughed, almost looking disappointed as he looked at the ground. "No. I mean, we screwed around but Leo was usually too…I dunno…out of it, I guess."

"You're too good for him anyways," said Fia with encouragement in her tone.

Lane chuckled. "Yea, it's whatever. Don won't admit it but I've screwed both of them, well, almost, I mean, Don and I just kissed."

Lycan's eyebrows rose. "Really?" he asked, a little grossed out actually. I mean, sure, that sounded awesome, but brothers? Both of them? Also your roommates? Really?

"Yep," nodded Lane as he handed Lycan a pair of sweatpants with a brand scrawled down the leg. "But I dunno. Don's wasn't real, he was drunk. Neither of them were." He tossed a blue shirt, gray jeans and red hoodie at Fia, who caught them with ease and headed to the bathroom.

"So what's your story, Ly?" Lane asked, turning around and leaning against the wall as he crossed his arms.

"My story?" Lycan scratched his arm unsurely. "Uh…like before the plane crash?"

"That's the idea, yea," nodded Lane with a playful smile.

"It's not that interesting…" Lycan smiled back. "Homeschooled. Gay. Outdoors kid. Wolf powers. Just your average guy."

"Oh yea, totally average," Lane chuckled. "Wolf powers?"

"Gr," stated Lycan with a small smile. "Fangs, claws, fox hate, the whole shebang."

"Fox hate?" Lane's smile grew as he brushed a hand through his spiked up blonde hair.

"I can't stand 'em. I dunno, it's just something about them. Their beady little eyes. They're always up to something. I think it's part of the whole wolf thing…" he admitted, embarrassed.

"I think so too," laughed Lane as he pushed off the wall. Fia emerged from the bathroom and he took her clothes, shoving them into a trash-bag, where Lycan's clothes were. "I'll wash them and get them back to you." He promised. "We were just talking about backstories." This was directed to Fia.

"Ha! Backstories, huh?" Fia brightened. "How's a house fire and love of animals?" she said, emotion hidden deep in her finch-colored eyes.

"Pretty normal, all things considered," Lane admitted.

"Oh yea?" Lycan challenged. "What's your story, Lancelot?"

Lane rolled his eyes. "Born to a 16 year old mom. Stillborn. Saved by a man, who later adopted me with his husband after my mom died. Two dads then, who turn out to be superheroes. Aunt and uncle, not related, also superheroes. Oh and did I mention the Synesthesia?" He'd stared off at the carpet, but his dark hazel eyes flick back up to the two survivors near the end as he smiles.

"Yep, okay, so we're pretty normal," agreed Fia, trying to lighten the mood with a smile. "But can you do this?" Lycan watched as she concentrated before showing off her wingspan, which seemed to be her favorite.

Lane marveled, looking overjoyed. "Wow…No. I cannot. That's amazing."

They all looked up as Scarlett walked in.

The ginger looked at them with a hopeful wave. "I was told to come here for dry clothes?"

 _ **~AVENGERS~**_

 _Don's Bedroom_

 _Don and Leo's Apartment_

Sarah raised an eyebrow, looking around the room.

Inky black sheets hastily thrown on a bed. Dying roses in a vase, this had obviously been there since before the flight. A trash can that was overflowing with little slips of paper, each with a different phone number, along with a couple of napkins smeared with kiss marks and scribbled names. Sarah even spotted a scratched up female ID.

"So…your dog…" she began with a sigh. "Jack? Right?" she asked, glancing over at the German Shepard curled up and dozing in the corner on a bed of flannels. "What's up with him?"

"Well, let's see," Donovan smirked at his closet. He'd agreed to give up some of his clothes, which he was obviously unhappy with. "He likes long walks on the beach. Bitches—that's _French_ for female dog—in short dresses. He's good at poker…"

Sarah rolled her eyes. Why had she attempted conversation with this asshole again?

"I was kidding," he scoffed, although a light grin made its way to his face.

"Were you? I couldn't tell," returned Sarah with equal sarcasm. She would put on this bravado of a tough girl until she knew Donovan more. She wasn't usually like this, but Fia and Lycan and Kriselle and Wren, Carrie, Scarlett—they were all nice people. It was her job to protect nice people.

"I don't do humor. That's usually Leo and his massive ego," he admitted, pulling out a red t-shirt with the sleeves roughly cut off, and then throwing it on the ground rather than handing it to Sarah. He continued to search, unsatisfied with that shirt. He sighed and pulled out a black t-shirt, handing it to her and turning his back—surprisingly respectful for a jerk.

"Well, let's see," he sighed as Sarah began changing. "I adopted him when he was a puppy. This was…let's see…a year ago? Yea. He's gotten big, I know. Anyways, he was a stray so I took him in or whatever, and named him Jack after…" he paused, looking away, saying the last bit in a mumble. "Jack Daniels."

"Jack Daniels?" she repeated. "Like the alcohol?"

He nodded and shrugged, swiping a conveniently placed beer from a small cabinet near the closet and popping it open.

"You realize you're underage, right?" she said, speaking what she'd been thinking the entire time since the flight as she removed her wet shirt.

"Not in Ireland," he smirked, taking another drink.

"We're not in Ireland," she stated emotionlessly. "Is that why you were in handcuffs on the plane?" she eyed his scabbed wrists with a raised eyebrow, finally getting the shirt over her head.

"No," he admitted. "That was something else."

"Oh yea?" she asked. She wanted to know. Instead of pulling her shirt down, she pulled it off. Just in her sports bra, she walked over to him on quiet feet and tapped his shoulders. As expected, he didn't cover his eyes or avert them in any way. "How about we make a little deal? I do something for you…" she prayed to every Norse God ever that she was convincingly flirting, because she had _no_ experience. This was probably the longest conversation she'd ever held with anyone but her parents. He set a hand on her hip, giving her the okay to continue. "…and _you_ give me a hint…?"

He narrowed his eyes, looking her over and making her feel self-conscious. She stood strong nonetheless. "Fine." He agreed, leaning forwards. His breath was hot against her ear. "It has to do with my sisters." His hand slid across her hip and she spun away from him, slipping her shirt on in one fluid motion.

He gaped, and then snapped his mouth shut, glaring before smirking. "Ooh," he whistled once, impressed. "Well played." He walked forwards, and she tensed, but he walked right past her and over to a series of coat hangers lined with flannels and pulling a white and black one down. He walked back and shoved it at her, speaking as he passed her and headed for the door. "But it'll happen eventually." He purred, opening the door for her.

Sarah jerked on the flannel and frowned. Feeling a sudden sassiness rise up, she shot back: "Yea, you bet, as soon as you grow a pair, I'd be happy to." Satisfied, she strutted past him and out into the living room, swiping his beer on the way and taking a sip.

…And then, you know, once he was out of eye line, spitting it in the sink and sighing.

What was she _doing_?

 _ **~AVENGERS~**_

 _The Living Room_

 _Don and Leo's Apartment_

"Hey Carrie," Fia looked over, fiddling with the edge of Lane's red hoodie as she sat leaned up against the sofa, glancing back and forth between the muted television and the copy of Harry Potter in her hands. "Do you think we can trust these guys?"

"Who?" Carrie inquired, nose buried in some music book. "Lancelot, Leonel and Donovan?"

"Man, their names are so long. _Lancelot_. What's next? A Shakespeare reference?" she muttered. Carried raised an expectant eyebrow. "Yea. Them." Fia nodded.

"No," she answered honestly. "All though, I don't think you're all that trustworthy. Me either. We're all hiding something." She smiled.

Fia nodded, blinking her wide eyes and thinking about the house fire she'd suffered when she was younger. "Yea…I guess so…" Then, abruptly. "What's yours?"

Carrie tensed and then lowered her book, sending a glance at a distracted Sarah as she entered the kitchen and then turning back to Fia. "My younger sister died in the crash. She was eight." She stated, burying her nose back in her book.

Fia pretended not to notice as a hand quickly swiped at a tear, instead staring at the knit carpet , pulling her knees to her chest and whispering "I was in a house fire when I was eight."

A small silence followed, and Fia felt tension lift from her shoulders, knowing that Carrie felt the same. It was good to let things go sometimes. It felt good at least. That was when her eyes caught the view of the plane crash on live TV. Footage of the invasion had finished, and they'd moved on to addressing the fatalities.

Fia felt her jaw drop.

"Um…guys…?!" she called, voice carrying through the house. Carrie looked up from her magazine and her eyes widened. "You might want to come see this!"

 _ **~AVENGERS~**_

 _Flight 218 Wreckage_

 _Miles Away_

He blinked open his wide cat-like green eyes.

Romeo groaned, feeling aching pains all over. He lifted his head, ears ringing. Fire and smoke covered portions of twisted metal. The smell of rot filled his nose and he nearly gagged. It didn't help when he met the eyes of a dead little girl a few feet away.

His short dark curly hair had been filled with dust and matted down in some places with blood. Not his, he realized, and didn't know whether to be relieved or terrified. The eighteen year old rubbed a hand over his ribs with a groan, rolling onto his side in an effort to get up. His light blue button up shirt had been torn to all heck, long slices in the fabric.

With a pained grunt, Romeo pulled himself to all fours, whimpering when a sharp pain emerged from his side. "Mom?" he croaked, dazed. He looked around, neck aching, and pretended not to see the olive arm jutting out from under the rubble.

Instead he got to his feet, looking around again. More fire. Smoke. A couple English words that he didn't recognize. He was stuck in the interior of a plane that had been torn in half.

" _Personne ici?!_ " he called in French. "Anyone here?!" he repeated in English, praying that he was pronouncing it correctly. He knew English very well, but his mother had said that he needed to work on pronouncing things with diction. His words sometimes slurred together when he spoke English, and he was much better at his first language French and second language Chinese. All thanks to a Chinese/French mom, and French dad. "Hello?" he tried again. "Hel—" His hand met a metal piece of wreckage as he stood, looking for support.

His entire body tensed as an extensive shock ran through his body. _Merde!_ He cursed silently, recoiling and removing his hand. It was like he'd rubbed wool socks on a carpet, but a hundred times worse. Just his luck, he supposed. The shock seemed to sharpen his senses, however, and sirens and voices tuned into his hearing. He turned and saw blue and red lights.

An officer tipped a piece of wreckage, shining her flashlight at him. She called something back at the other officers. "Hello?!" she called, "Is someone over here?!"

"Yes!" he responded immediately, raising his hand. His mouth fell open when a sharp tingling ran through his entire arm, releasing at his fingers. Seemingly in slow motion, Romeo watched as electricity lit up the officer and most of the surrounding wreckage, sending her flying backwards to land in a twitching heap. He froze, quickly bringing his hand back to his chest and holding it there, stumbling back a few steps. "What…?" he muttered, stunned.

"Put your hands up and get on your knees!" a loud angry voice shouted. "Show us your hands!" the voice repeated. Romeo was blinded by flashlights. He covered his eyes with one arm, blinking and lifting his head to see guns drawn on him and a semi-circle of a dozen police officers surrounding him.

"What's going on?!" he demanded loudly, unsure what to do.

"Put your _hands_ in the air!" the officer commanded, shifting his weapon in a threatening way.

"Okay, okay," Romeo nodded, confused. What had just happened? He lifted his hands and cringed as pain shot through his side once again. He must've damaged some ribs in the crash. A crash. Is that what had happened? But what about the lightning? It _was_ raining lightly. Had it been a storm? No. It had gone _through_ him, came _from_ him. Twice.

A blazing white light met his eyes from above, and he moved his arm to cover his eyes once more as the officers approached. With squinted eyes, he recognized the word 'NEWS' scrawled across a helicopter soaring above and shining light down on him.

He was shoved to his knees and his hands were forced behind his back. A gravelly voice gave him his rights and listed his charges.

"Sir, you're under arrest for assaulting an officer and a possible 100 accounts of murder."

Romeo felt his jaw drop as his eyes widened, heart sinking. He could only manage one word as he was forced back onto his feet.

"What?"

 _ **~AVENGERS~**_

 _The Living Room_

 _Don and Leo's Apartment_

"He shot lightning!" Lycan was standing on the couch, swinging his arms around as he shouted things loudly. "He shot a friggin officer with _lightning!_ " cheered the kid.

Wren narrowed her eyes, stunned and staring at the television screen. "That he did." She nodded, unsure of what else to say.

"Did I hear that correctly?" Kriselle looked terrified. "Are they accusing him of murdering everyone on the plane?!"

Sheer panic was slowly filling the room.

"It wasn't him! It was aliens!" Fia shouted.

"What the hell?! They can't just do that!" Lane exclaimed.

"Sucks," commented Donovan. "He seemed nice."

"We have to help him!" Scarlett shouted angrily.

Wren blocked out the noise, focusing back on the TV. Everyone slowly silenced as the report continued. A reporter in a helicopter turned towards the camera.

"Alright!" he shouted over the noise. Lane clicked up the volume a bit. "It seems like the suspect has been arrested! We're going back to Jen and Ron in the studio!"

'Jen', a woman with shoulder length brown hair and a scarf, appeared back on screen, sitting behind a table next to a man—apparently 'Ron'.

"Thanks Jeff, stay safe," returned Jen after the usual pause of silence that came with live news reports. "Alright, well, to those of you who just tuned in we're talking about the Flight 218 crash that took place just hours ago outside of New York City during the Invasion. All bodies are accounted for, three of them having been found miles away, authorities are saying they were thrown from the plane."

Ron continued, clearing his throat. "Yea, there were exactly 100 passengers on the flight when it crashed, the plane was completely booked. As of right now, there were a total of 90, previously 91, casualties. Romeo Agreste is the latest survivor, and the only survivor to be apprehended. Sheriff Gregory, of the NYPD, released a statement an hour ago, here it is—"

The screen cut to a clip of a man in uniform standing in front of a crowd of news reporters. "Flight 218 crashed due to unknown factors mid-flight, ten minutes before a precautionary emergency landing. As of right now we know of a total 91 casualties, with only 9 survivors. These survivors are suspects in the crash, and should be apprehended. The survivors _have_ been identified, here they are now—"

Wren watched as faces and family photos showed up on screen with the officer's voice.

"Kriselle Clearly, age 17. Sarah Ride, age 19. Lycan Cohen, age 15. Wren Williams, age 17. Caroline Huber, age 16. Scarlett McTavish, age 16."

Fia appeared on screen and the officer continued to talk, "The six witnesses of the crash escaped in an unmarked white van heading South, and are believed to have kidnapped the 7th survivor—14 year old Fia Woodruff."

"They think you kidnapped me?" Fia marveled.

Wren felt her blood run cold as the officer continued. "Making up the final two of the nine survivors on the run are Leonel and Donovan Sterling, 15 and 18. The boys were last seen in eastern Massachusetts where they were finally apprehended for the suspected murder of their sisters—" the screen switched to a family photo that included Don, Leo, an older woman and two girls. "Livia Sterling, age 17 at time of death, and Angelica Sterling, age 9 at time of death."

Jen continued as the group sat in frozen silence, eyes glued to the screen. "The murder took place 3 years ago in Northern Richmond. Leonel Sterling was 12 at the time, and Donovan 15. Their father Albiel Sterling, a professor, died 9 years ago in an accident, but their mother Lilith was found at the crime scene. Having suffered a mental break, she was admitted to a Psych Ward while the boys went on the run. Authorities have been searching for them since then, tailing them up to Massachusetts before apprehending them while they were boarding a flight to California. The boys were being transported to a Detainment Facility in New York before the crash, where they escaped with the other survivors."

Ron nodded as a picture of a younger Donovan with longer ragged hair and a younger Leo with long bangs appeared on the screen, followed by two mugshots taken recently. "If you see _any_ of the survivors, the public is being heavily urged to contact authorities. That's 9-1-1. Do NOT approach them, as they are considered extremely dangerous."

The television was turned off by Lane, who clutched the remote and was looking at Donovan uncertainly.

Wren stood up, slowly stepping protectively in front of Lycan.

Leonel was still sleeping in his room.

Donovan sighed, swallowing the last of his beer and setting it on the counter.

"So…" Donovan scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. He looked at Sarah. "You wanted to know my secret."

 ***Dramatic music* I'm so proud of that chapter, honestly. :)**

 **SO MANY SECRETS REVEALED! Fia was in a fire?! Lycan hates foxes?! Leo's a junkie?! Donovan is a murderer?! WHO IS ROMEO?! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW AND LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!**

 **Till next time. ;)**

 **-AG**


	6. Fail to Hide

Chapter 4-

 **Hello everyone! Thank you so much for all of the reviews and PMs! I'm sorry it's taking me forever to respond to them, I'm doing my best!**

 **Happy** _ **extremely**_ **late Birthday to TheForgottenPrincess. :)**

 **Happy New Years. :)**

 **The request for a blogger page has been placed and completed. :) Visit "Flight218. blogspot . com" (no spaces) and you'll find picture refs for characters. People who didn't reply to PMs, I just found some. PM me if you want changes. :)**

 **KnowInsight: Thank you for the continuity error. It's been fixed. :)**

 **To keep you busy until I reply,**

 **Shall we? :)**

 _The Living Room_

 _Don and Leo's Apartment_

"So…" Donovan turned to Sarah. "You wanted to know my secret…"

Everything exploded all at once.

Water rushed from Sarah's hands, slamming Donovan into the wall. Lycan tackled him from there, pinning him. Lycan's ears became pointed and he snarled as fangs grew, claws extending from his fingers. Lane figured that the boy's werewolf abilities probably enhanced his strength and speed, because he moved with expert efficiency and leapt like an animal, pinning Donovan with brute strength.

" _Bitch_!" Donovan growled, dark blonde hair plastered to his forehead as he sputtered, coughing up water.

Lane turned and Wren and Scarlett were gone, the door to Leonel's room nearly snapping at the hinges at it opened. Carrie dropped to the floor clutching her head, crouching and closing her eyes tightly. What had she said her powers were? Feeling emotions?

Lane started forwards, only to feel a hand land on shoulder. He was pulled backwards and turned around quickly to come to a rough landing on his knees. He let out a noise of pain, hands raising. He lifted his head to see Sarah holding one hand at him and one at Donovan, uncertainty clear on her face.

Leonel exited his room in a stumble, wincing at the bright light as he left his dark cave of a room.

"What's going on?!" Leo demanded, blinking reddened eyes—Lane figured he hadn't slept a lot on the run, so he was probably sleep deprived. His eyes stopped at Lane, but he was shoved forwards by Wren. "Hey! Get your hands off him!" Leo snapped at Sarah, and Lane couldn't stop his heart from lifting. "Donovan what the _hell_ did you do?!" growled the speedster loudly, turning angrily to his brother.

"I didn't _do_ anything, you jerk! What? Did you sleepthrough _that_?!" Donovan returned furiously from his place, pinned on the floor.

Leo faltered almost unnoticeably, "No! I can't sleep through all the friggin noise _you_ make!" He answered, laced with sass. He'd taken his red leather jacket off, and must've fallen asleep in the rest. He was wearing just a black and yellow zebra stripe muscle shirt, the sleeves cut extremely deep, along with his black skinny jeans—torn up from the crash. He was wearing his Converse, the bottoms unusually shaped because of his super speed.

"All the noise _I_ make?! You're always talking! Everyone can hear _you!_ " Donovan shot back, voice growing with each insult, steam sizzling from the water covering his hands.

"Man, you are _such_ an _asshole_. I saved your _life!_ Your _LIFE_ , _Donovan!_ And what do I get? A friggin mess!"

"I saved your ass more times than you can count, which," Donovan chuckled sarcastically. "Actually isn't that much." He titled his head cockily.

" _Jerk!_ "

"Bitch!"

"Hooker!"

"Coward!"

" _Drunk!_ "

" _Kleptomaniac, Schizophrenic—"_

"Drunk, slut, vain, self-obsessed! _FIGHT ME!"_ Leo screamed angrily, attempting to charge at his brother only to be held back with Wren's firm grip.

Donovan rolled his eyes. "I would challenge you to a game of wits, but I don't want to _embarrass_ you." he returned slyly, plastering a fake grin on his face afterwards.

Leonel gaped, "You _asshole_." He said, just above a whisper.

Lane glanced at Carrie as they argued, watching her flinch and wince. "Guys! _Stop_ arguing!" he barked. She cringed, but opened her eyes thankfully as the boys silenced and looked to Lane with equally pissed gazes. "They know now, so you have a whole lot of explaining to do."

And the noise exploded again.

"No! That's insane! They don't deserve it!" Leo shouted, voice coming out high-pitched and blurred together.

"No way!" argued Donovan stubbornly. "That's our crap! Back the f—"

"There are children around," recited Wren calmly.

Donovan glared, looking directly at Fia. "Back the _fuck_ off!" Fia's face contorted into minor annoyance.

"Okay we need to figure this out," sighed Lycan, jostling as Donovan attempted to buck him off. "There's an innocent dude that needs our help! Remember?!"

Scarlett nodded. "He's right. We need to be heroes and help him."

"Heroes don't exist anymore," Donovan grumbled, laying his head down sideways on the floor and seemingly losing interest in the topic as he stared off at random wood panels in the wall. "If they do, well, Leo and I aren' ."

Leonel frowned, and Lane saw his eyes wander off to somewhere only he saw. "Y-Yea." He agreed reluctantly.

It was Fia that took action, much to Lane's surprise. She crouched by Donovan's face and forced him to look at her. "Listen you d—" she huffed, biting her tongue. "—you _Stupid_. Heroes _do_ exist. They're called Captain America. Hawkeye. Black Widow. The Hulk. Tho—"

"Hate to break it to you, but the _Hulk_ is no hero," Donovan sighed. "And neither is B—"

Fia smacked him upside the head without hesitation and he glared up at her with the eyes of a devil. "Shut _up_." She said sternly. "He _is_ a hero. Him _and_ Thor, andIron Man, and Fireman, and Police Man. They _all_ are. Firemen saved _my_ family. You know what that makes them? _Heroes_. So don't say crap about it. Got it?!" Fia demanded. She huffed and stood, turning around to face the others. Lane watched her face of confidence drop and fear fill it, but she didn't show Donovan, instead marching into the kitchen and pulling out a pack of oreos. "So are we gonna go save this guy?" Her face eased. "'Cause we're kinda super _stupids_ right now, and we need to be super _heroes_."

Donovan sighed loudly. "Fine! Jesus! Just." He huffed again. "Let us up. Then I'll answer your questions.

 _ **~AVENGERS~**_

 _Unknown Location_

Romeo looked at the floor unsurely.

He'd been in the room for nearly an hour.

It had to have been.

He hadn't been counting but…Yea, it'd been a long time.

The room was maybe twelve feet by twelve feet with one table in the middle of the room. It reminded him of government movies he'd watched as a kid, back in France.

The 18 year old's heart almost stopped when the door opened. He ran a tongue over his chapped lips and unintentionally glanced at the empty plastic cup on the table. He blinked his large green eyes and watched a man walk into the room.

The man wore strange orange-tinted sunglasses and a nice tailored suit. This confused Romeo, because he was inside and sunglasses weren't usually required. The man sported unique facial hair and had an aged but immature sort of feel around him.

He silently grabbed the only other chair in the room and dragged it over to the table, flipping it around and sitting on it backwards, eyes glued to Romeo. Romeo swallowed thickly and the man waved the two guards outside the door. They closed the heavy metal entrance and Romeo heard locks hiss.

"Do you know who I am?" the man asked, voice low and filled with intelligence. Romeo took notice of the scars and scratches about his face.

The French boy shook his head reluctantly, earning a raise of the eyebrows.

"Wow. That's new." The man reached up and removed his sunglasses, slipping them into the breast pocket of his suit and revealing brown eyes. "What disconnected corner of the world are you from?" He rambled something else that didn't translate.

"Paris, France?" Romeo responded, hoping he'd heard the question right. This man was intimidating.

"Paris!" the man whistled in surprise. "Huh. Well, welcome to New York." He laughed, like he'd said a joke. "Sorry for such a crappy welcome wagon, but, ah, you seem to have crashed a plane."

"That wasn't me!" Romeo disagreed quickly.

"Unfortunately for you, that's exactly what the guilty one would say," sighed the man. "Tony Stark." He announced, as if he'd read Romeo's mind. "And don't worry, I'm gonna have my best guys run some tests, check you out. See if we can dig up any security footage back at the wreckage. Get some fingerprints. Put you in the system, and—"

"The _system_?" Romeo repeated, pulling his hands back towards his lap and feeling the handcuffs press at them.

"My own little project," Tony nodded. "You _did_ hear what happened here in New York, right?"

Horrible pictures of death, destruction and a man with a glowing staff ran through Romeo's head. He nodded quickly. "Yes."

"Well, after that I began working on a program. A system that could pick out the good ones from the bad ones." He smiled like he was sharing a secret. "I'm thinking of calling it 'Ulton'. Catchy, huh?"

"A categorizing system?" Romeo furrowed his brows.

"You realize your plane was attacked by aliens, right? And that the government knows that? That they're blaming it on you because they don't know what else to do?"

Romeo didn't reply.

"Ever heard of Iron Man?" Tony inquired. Romeo nodded and then raised his eyebrows.

How had he not made the connection? " _Tony Stark_." He repeated from before, gaping. "Iron Man! You're Iron Man!"

Tony smirked. "The one and only. Sorry kid, we'll have time for autographs later. Right now we're gonna start up the whole 'proving you innocent' thing. You might get a bit of jail time for the whole 'shooting the officer' thing, but other than that—"

"Wait, what?" Romeo demanded, shocked. "No. I can't. It wasn't—I didn't mean—"

Tony's eyes softened and then hardened once more. "Yea, you can actually. 18. Legal adult here in America. That plus assaulting an officer means jail time." With one fluid motion, Tony was standing and the chair was swung around and pushed in. He slipped on his sunglasses. "My guys'll be in in a second so hold tight."

And with that he was gone, the only thing remaining of him being the sound of the door closing.

 _ **~AVENGERS~**_

 _The Living Room_

 _Don and Leo's Apartment_

"Are you kidding me?" Leonel muttered, wincing as his bed sheets were tightened around his ankles. He was laying on his side, hands tied behind his back and ankles bound together. Lane had been released with reluctance and now stood in the kitchen near the island, appearing on edge with the whole situation.

"You're joking right?" Donovan agreed, glancing at his brother as Sarah walked back in with everyone's wet clothes from earlier and began tying them in damp knots around his fists, which were zip tied together.

Scarlett crossed her arms.

"No," replied Sarah firmly. "Your sister, her name is Livia, right? She murdered your younger sister? Why?"

Donovan grinned, loving her fearful eagerness. "Woah, babe, slow down, I—"

Before he could finish his quip, Scarlett watched Sarah backhand him across the face. His head snapped sideways and slowly came back, dark grey eyes meeting Sarah's as Donovan moved his jaw this way and that.

"Kinky," he mused.

"Shut up and answer the question," Sarah snapped sharply. She crouched down. "I don't _want_ to believe that you're a bad person, Donovan. I _really_ don't. So if you'd prove me wrong right about now, I'd appreciate it." She finished tying the knots and stood. "Livia murdered your younger sister. Why?"

Donovan exhaled through his nose, teeth locked together. He stared at her for a moment before speaking up again, tone dead serious. "Because she was jealous."

"Of your sister? Why?" Scarlett chimed curiously.

"Because my sister was the good girl of the family. Our parents loved her. She was too… _innocent_ …I dunno, something about her just… _irked_ Livia. One day, after school…she snapped…"

Scarlett looked back over at Leonel, who seemed awfully interested in the carpet, eyes dull.

"Long story short, she cut open our sister and…" Donovan also stared at something no one else could see, a small smile crawling onto his face as he looked down with sad eyes. His brows furrowed for a split second, as if he was considering something. "Well…Leo and I stopped her. We got the knife and I…" his eyes narrowed, like he was struggling to remember. "I killed her."

Scarlett bit her lip. She couldn't imagine it. Sure, Donovan seemed to be a bit of a…you know, but killing their sister? It's impossible.

"Our mom walked in," Donovan's features softened. "She saw us and assumed that Leo had killed Angelica, and that I had killed Livia unprovoked. I took Leo and ran. The police came. They sent Mom to a mental ward."

Scarlett looked back to Leonel. He was paler than usual, and she assumed that he would start withdrawal again if they didn't wrap this up. He wasn't crying per se, but appeared more so disconnected from reality, lost in thought. As she watched, he blinked a few times and twisted himself, getting to his knees. He looked up with an almost concerning smile. "Three and a half combined years in therapy and psych-ward, two trips to jail, and two trips to juvie, and here we are." He chimed almost proudly.

Donovan looked at his brother with mild concern, but focused back on the group. "Satisfied?"

Scarlett answered for all of them. She trusted them. Why? She had no idea. But she did. "Yes."

"Yes?" Lane asked in disbelief, letting out a breath of relief as his entire body relaxed.

"Yes?" Lycan double checked, frowning as his fangs sank away.

"Yes?" Fia frowned uncertainly.

"Yes…" Carrie and Kriselle spoke in unison, with equal relief that the whole thing was over.

"Yes," Wren nodded.

"Pack up," Sarah commanded, reluctantly taking charge. "Everyone." She looked at Carrie, who had been uncertain about joining them. "We're heading for Romeo."

 _ **~AVENGERS~**_

 _Living Room_

 _Don and Leo's Apartment_

The team had gathered back in the living room.

Kriselle sat at the far end of the sofa. Lane was cozily placed in between her and Scarlett, although he leaned forwards, elbows on knees.

Carrie had taken to the recliner, legs crossed. She had a book in her lap, but it remained unread as her focus remained on the conversation. Fia had perched on the armrest next to her, looking exhausted but determined.

Lycan was nearly asleep, head rested on Wren's lap. Wren had one hand in Lycan's hair, sitting on the carpet and leaning back against the sofa. Leonel sat back a ways, perched on the kitchen island and tapping his hand so fast that Kriselle worried he's break his fingers. His eyes were darting around and she could tell he'd be high again soon.

Donovan and Sarah stood next to each other in the middle of the room, although Kriselle didn't know if this was because of trust or the opposite. Either way, they seemed to be on the same page and have the same goals.

The television had just announced the facility that Romeo was being held in. It was some Stark building with high security, but Donovan brought up that with all that's going on it'd be minimal.

Sarah sighed, "—so, after everyone's rested for half an hour, we'll head out. Leonel will find us a vehicle. Preferably a Van or SUV of some sort. After that, Leo can run, Don offered to use his motorcycle as a scouting vehicle, and I can ride with him. That drops us three seats. Who here can drive?"

No one raised their hands. "And, no, you don't need a license." Hands shot up like fireworks. "Good. Scarlett, I want you driving the Van or SUV. Wren, you're passenger. I need someone with a game changer if things go bad. That's you. There should be enough room for Lycan, Fia, Carrie, Kriselle and Romeo in the back. Lane is sticking back here and will be in contact the entire time via Carrie's phone, since she's opted out of fighting for now. Carrie will work as a getaway driver, and will wait for when we return with Romeo."

"After that we head back. Most likely we'll be chased, so be on your toes and ready for anything. We might have to ditch another vehicle. Leo can carry someone if worst comes to worst," Donovan looked to his brother, who nodded after a moment. "Fia? Are your wings under control?"

"I…I think so…" nodded the girl. "I can probably carry someone small, like Lycan."

Lycan nodded in thanks.

Sarah crossed her arms in approval, "Wren? Your flight? You can carry someone, right?"

The Asian tilted her head. "Yes. I'll meditate while everyone rests. I think I could manage Kriselle and Scarlett if it comes to it."

"That just leaves Romeo…" commented Kriselle with a frown.

Donovan pressed his lips together, thinking hard. "Then let's just hope that things go according to plan."

Kriselle felt an dissatisfied feeling rise up in her stomach, but stood up nonetheless when the meeting was dismissed.

Lane exited, leading Lycan and Wren up to his room. He'd offered the two a place to sleep for now, and they'd be doubling up until something better could be thought up. Meanwhile, Donovan and Lane would be sharing Donovan's bed, platonically—as had been made abundantly clear by Lane.

Kriselle didn't know if it was the unbelievable choice to trust Donovan and Leo, or just some love for kids hidden deep deep down within the teen, but Donovan had blown up an air mattress in his room and offered it up for Fia and Carrie, and then blown up another mattress in Leonel's room for Kriselle and Scarlett. Sarah claimed she would pack for a bit and then crash on the upstairs couch, meanwhile Romeo would take the downstairs couch if all went to plan and he wasn't a grade-A jerk.

Kriselle sighed, getting to her feet. It was going to be a long half an hour.

 _ **~AVENGERS~**_

 _Leonel's Room_

 _Don and Leo's Apartment_

"Come on, I'll keep an eye on you and you get a free extra pair of eyes." Scarlett sighed, pulling her hair back in a ponytail and locking it there with a rubber band provided by Carrie.

" _No_ , you get a free ride and I get one hundred and thirty pounds extra to carry, _and_ sore feet," Leo returned with a grumble, closing the door behind them and ducking down to grab his pills from under the bed.

While most had taken the half an hour to rest, Leo had taken to reviving his high. Scarlett, disapproving, had followed him and worriedly asked to join him on his trip for a vehicle.

" _I'm_ one _-_ bloody _-eighteen_ , thank you very much," snapped Scarlett, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. "Come on," she dropped her voice, even though she knew the others couldn't hear her. "You were _so_ out of it, Leo. You need someone to help you stay focused."

Leo glared at her, turning his head sharply. "I _am_ focused!" he snapped angrily, eyebrows furrowing but quickly lifting as he realized his tone. He seemed to shake it off and turned back to his meds, leaving Scarlett staring in surprise.

She stood in silence as he pulled the box from under the bed.

"I'm going to go grab my coat." She announced almost pitifully.

"Yea. Okay." He nodded, looking put out as he pulled a bottle and avoided her gaze as he popped a good amount of pills in his mouth.

A few minutes later, Scarlett desperately clung to his back. She'd grabbed a blue hoodie and a pair of spare black Aviator goggles that Leo had laying around. Speak of the devil, they must've been going a good 90 miles per hour and he had nothing protecting him except for the goggles on his head and a crazed tight lipped smile on his face.

They came to an abrupt halt, and if not for Leo holding tightly to her legs, she would've gone shooting over his shoulder and onto the ground. Instead, he neck snapped forwards quite painfully and she gasped in surprise. He dropped her and she landed easily on her feet, bringing a hand to her neck.

"You think this'll work?" Leo turned to her with bright eyes.

They were in the middle of a parking lot, a Walmart lit up at the other side. The pick-up truck was large, black, with tinted windows and a large sturdy bed. Scarlett tilted her head.

"It looks like it'll get the job done," she nodded.

"Great. Ride complete. Let's go."

 **Next time the action will pick up. :)**

 **I hope you all enjoyed and drop a review if you have the time. ;)**

 **Recap : Don and Leo's past! Tony Stark has Romeo! Scarlett and Leo have found a vehicle! :)**

 **Till next time.**

 **-AG**


	7. Hide to Save

Chapter 5-

 **Welcome back everyone! So happy you guys all enjoyed the blog and the facial refs! :)**

 **So sorry for the later update, I've been SUPER busy lately. I got a load of schoolwork (good news is, I'm ahead now), followed by my dog getting spayed and needing my attention, getting sick, going up north to see my grandparents, and finally a concert that I went to (GA was insanely awesome.)**

 **Sincerely hope you guys don't mind. :)**

 **Thank you all for all of the positive comments.**

 **Note: The Lane/Carrie PoV is shared, so don't be confused when there's internal thoughts from both. :)**

 **Special thanks to Elianora Annora for the motivation. (Happy Birthday, darling. :))**

 **Shall we?**

 _The Truck_

 _Unknown Location_

Lycan pulled at the drawstrings on his hoodie, the hood just ever so slightly too large around his head. It hadn't stopped raining, and—of course—Lycan was perched in the bed of the pick-up. Donovan had grinned about how it was only in his dog-like nature to enjoy being outside, while Sarah had apologized and patted his head.

Just as planned, Scarlett was at the wheel and was driving quite well—save for a couple of rough turns in which Lycan was thrown around quite a bit. Wren was in the passenger, window cracked open. Donovan and Sarah zipped ahead of them, Donovan in a blazing red full-face helmet and Sarah clutching his waist in an ocean blue men's full-face helmet. Leonel ran alongside the truck, sometimes speeding up and disappearing before reappearing moments later. Carrie, Fia and Kriselle had taken the back seats and, once again, Lycan had been thrown in the back. He had pulled his knees to his chest and sat with his back rested against the back of the cab.

The bed was like a freezing cold pool, water constantly cycling through it. Lycan swallowed a shout when the blur of a person he was staring at took a leap and landed in the bed with a thud, earning a glance into the mirror from Scarlett.

"Pretty cold, huh?!" Leonel shouted over the loud sounds of the pounding rain.

Lycan, shivering a bit, nodded and wiped a hand across his face to rid it of gathering rainwater. "Yea!"

Leonel stood, to Lycan's amazement, because it was shaky as all heck back here and balance was impossible. And yet, there Leo was, standing like his feet were glued down.

"I can sit with you!" came Leo's higher voice.

Lycan raised an eyebrow and then nodded, scooting over as best he could. Leonel settled down next to him with a sigh and looked over the edge of the bed with dazed eyes. Lycan swallowed uncomfortably and tried to pretend it wasn't awkward when they proceeded to sit in silence for a good five minutes.

"You know that we could die?!" Leonel turned, looking over at Lycan with a disconcerting smile.

Lycan's brows immediately furrowed and he nearly choked mid-swallow. "Uh—what?!" he demanded, staring. The werewolf subconsciously leaned away. After all, they'd learned that these brothers had technically committed _murder_ , even if it was in self-defense.

"We could die!" repeated Leo with another disturbing grin. Eye to eye, Lycan took notice of the other boy's reddened steel grey eyes. The speedster looked up and closed his eyes, smiling a tight-lipped smile into the rain. "Man, isn't that crazy?!" suddenly he was staring back at Lycan, teeth bared in a wide smile. "We could _die!_ "

"Uh-huh…?" Lycan cleared his throat, feeling on edge.

In a blur of clothing, Leo was on his feet. He chuckled to himself. "How fun would that be?!" as if he'd said a world class joke, Leonel laughed a bit louder and jumped from the bed, landing on his feet and taking off in a run next to the truck again.

Lycan gaped, rain slipping down his face. "…Huh?"

 ** _~AVENGERS~_**

 _The Truck_

 _Unknown Location_

Sarah had her arms wrapped tightly around Donovan's waist.

This was her first time on a motorcycle and the first thing Donovan told her was 'You can use Leonel's helmet. It'll be too big so it won't actually do much if you fall, but it'll help a bit.' How reassuring.

She was so focused on the scenery as it zipped past that the blur of speed that was the other Sterling nearly startled her right off of the bike.

"He's careless," she announced into the intercom that was allowing Donovan to speak with Sarah and vice versa. The water-bender watched as Donovan's little brother turned and jumped past the front of the bike, barely missing certain death, and landed, flipping his brother the bird.

"You don't say," shot back Donovan sarcastically.

"Has he always been like that?" she inquired, completely ignoring Donovan's tone.

She watched from behind as he looked off to the side and then back front, obviously annoyed with the conversation.

"Yea," Donovan chuckled sarcastically. "One might say he's a problem child."

"How so?" prodded Sarah.

"You tell me something and I'll tell you something, how 'bout that?" Donovan snapped angrily.

Sarah held her tongue, narrowing her eyes. "Fine." She said sharply. "I have a 10 year old sister in Vermont. Your turn. How is Leo a problem child?"

Sarah bit back memories of Lilly, her adopted sister. They'd been through hell together. Thrown through foster systems. And just when she thought she'd finally be able to adopt the girl and give them a better life, her damn plane crashed.

"Now we're talking," remarked Donovan cockily. "Leonel is a kleptomaniac. He's always stealing crap that isn't his and he was always dragging cops to our house. He's always eating 'cause of his metabolism. On top of that there's the ADHD. Our mom didn't have the money for meds so he was always getting distracted at school and then beat up when he didn't focus on whatever crap the bullies were trying to say to him."

"Bullied? Did you—?"

"Woah there, Riptide, that's not the deal," interrupted Donovan quickly.

Sarah furrowed her brows at the nickname. "Ugh. Okay." She paused. How bad did she want answers? A couple seconds of thinking and she decided on very. "My parents were killed in a train wreck. Guess my family's just dragged into stuff like that." She announced, bitterly recalling the plane crash.

"Guess so. Yes, bullied. He's a scrawny pan kid that steals stuff, what do you expect?" Donovan barked a laugh. "It's a miracle he's made it this far."

"Pan, huh? What about you?" Sarah asked. Donovan remained silent, peering over his shoulder at her. "I don't have any other secrets." She stated honestly.

Donovan shrugged as if to say 'well, that sucks for you.' Sarah huffed. "I'm claustrophobic. Now answer the damn question."

Donovan smirked. "Now we're getting somewhere. Bisexual I guess. I screw who I wanna screw."

Sarah frowned at that. "Leo mentioned alcohol. I saw your room."

"So? I drink some. Does it matter?"

"Kind of. These kids are relying on you to lead them," Sarah answered.

The bike swerved abruptly, and Sarah clutched Donovan immediately, even as the bike was brought back. "Me? Why? Who said that?" Donovan demanded quickly, and Sarah swore she heard fear.

Sarah held back a smirk. "No one in particular, but it's kinda obvious."

"Whatever. They can follow who they want to follow. Kids that listen to me don't make it far."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm just an angry dude with a craving for lust."

At least he was honest.

Sarah could almost see as Donovan's walls rose once more. "I don't want to lead a bunch of freaks."

"Freaks? Wow. Here I was thinking you were flirting with me."

"So what if I was? We're still freaks. You're a human fountain. Leonel's an overconfident, greedy thief. That Lycan kid is a werewolf. Wren can _fly_. Shall I go on?" asked Donovan defensively.

"No."

 ** _~AVENGERS~_**

 _Vent Shaft 07_

 _Unknown Location_

"Get your head out of my—"

"Donovan."

"Whatever."

Kriselle took note of what Donovan had said and attempted to move back away from Donovan's…you know. She was startled when instead she bumped into someone else, thankfully Scarlett.

"Remind me again why we chose vent shafts like bloody idiots?" the Scot requested with sarcastic undertones.

" _Because_ they're stealthy," Sarah snapped back, obviously just as annoyed with the decision.

"This sucks…" Leo whined from the back-ish of the line, a few persons behind Kriselle.

"It's better than being shot down by guards," replied Kriselle wisely, ignoring the ache in her elbows and the sting in her knees.

"Ugh….we've been crawling for _hours_ …." Continued Leo, completely ignoring Kriselle.

"Shut up, you wuss," Donovan snapped in return.

"It's been ten minutes," commented Lycan with disbelief.

"Oh _God_. That's _forever_ …." Drawled the speedster.

"Just—" Donovan pressed his lips together. "Just _shut_. _Up_."

"Please?" added Kriselle as nice as she could. He was a _bit_ talkative.

There was a beat of silence.

"Can't I just—?"

"No!" Everyone shouted.

"But maybe if I just—"

"No!"

A sigh. "Fine."

Kriselle focused back on the dusty vent.

"Okay, but honestly guys if I just—"

"Leo!"

"Sorry."

"Do you guys really think we can do this?" Kriselle asked uncertainly after a moment of silence.

"If we give it our best."

"Nope. Not at all."

"Maybe, I guess."

"Great," sighed Kriselle uneasily. "That helped a lot."

"Anytime," answered Scarlett sarcastically with a supportive pat on Kriselle's ankle.

Kriselle continued to shuffle forwards in the tight vent.

"Are you okay?" she asked back to Scarlett quietly, after noticing the light sweat on the girl's forehead and the nervous darting eyes.

"Fine," she responded quickly. "Just a bit claustrophobic is all."

"Amen," muttered Sarah from the front of the line.

Kriselle understood to. It was incredibly claustrophobic.

But nothing could go wrong, right? They were safe. For now.

Kriselle cleared her throat. "How long until—?"

A burst of air and Leo was at the front of the line, snickering like a madman.

"See? How easy was—?"

Leo's face paled with everyone else's as the sound of metal creaking ran through the air. A loose bolt in the vent shaft was all it took for the entire group to go tumbling down into the hallway.

 ** _~AVENGERS~_**

 _Corridor 005_

 _Unknown Location_

Romeo sighed, fuddling with his hands.

"Go to America, it'll be fun," he grumbled to himself, imitating his mother. His wrists were weighted down by a heavy pair of handcuffs obviously built for someone with abilities. He shuffled awkwardly down the hallway, ankles dressed in similar apparel. "Thanks mom. I'm not having as much fun as you thought." He winced as a hard shove arrived to his shoulder.

"I thought Tony Stark said I'd be comfortable," Romeo snapped over his shoulder.

"That was before you were charged and sent here," replied the officer. Here. As in one of the most well protected Stark Industries run facilities in the world. The building that he'd spent the past…boy, must've been 5 hours, in. No judge. No courtroom. A stamp on a document that said he was guilty.

Romeo tried to ignore the grunts and chuckles of other prisoners.

"Great…" the French young man let out a sigh as the door was opened with a loud beep. A single bed, sink, toilet and shelf awaited him.

"Have a comfortable stay," the officer chuckled behind him, pushing him forwards into the cell and quickly sliding the door shut. Romeo sat down on his bed and –

An explosion sent him flying off to the left. He grunted in pain as his entire body hit the cement wall and crashed into the sink, snapping it off of the wall. Plaster, cement dust and chunks of brick rained down on him as he lay stunned on the cold floor.

Everything was tilting and he blinked, shaking the dust out of his curly hair and squinting as someone patted his cheek.

"Hey buddy," the voice was echoed and repeated over and over and over again. Romeo blinked a few more times and a face came into his gaze. He was pulled upwards to his feet, at which point another pair of arms came to hold him steady.

"He seems pretty out of it," said a voice off to the left. Romeo turned blearily and spotted a young boy—er—a young wolf— _Ah…that's not…normal…right?_ He thought unsurely, feeling the urge to scream but instead feeling his knees buckle again.

"Well, you did just blow him up," commented a female voice from the hallway. The door had been blown inwards and turned into a flower of blooming metal. The girl, tall with dark hair, was hovering slightly above the ground.

Romeo furrowed his brows at the inches between her feet and the ground and leaned to the left as his the contents of his stomach made their appearance.

 _What the hell?_

 ** _~AVENGERS~_**

 _Corridor 005_

 _Unknown Location_

Fia watched the boy puke what would have been right on top of Leo (if not for his super speed) and couldn't help but grimace.

"Okay…" she muttered as he then proceeded to collapse into Leo and Lycan, who were supporting him for the most part. Both boys made the same face of 'oh jeez oh jeez oh jeez' and looked at each other with widened eyes.

"This is your fault," Sarah announced from the hallway. She fired a blast of water at a small group of oncoming guards and glared over at Donovan.

He shrugged and sent an annoyed look back, "What?" he snapped. "I thought the vent was a good idea."

"You always think it's a good idea," remarked Leo snidely.

"I'm gonna kick your – _Ow!_ What?!" Donovan glared at Sarah again.

"Focus. We're supposed to be professionals," she retorted.

Lycan didn't say anything, simply laughing out loud.

He was right. The trip in had been anything but easy. They'd climbed through the vents only to step wrong and fall two floors up from where they needed to be. Following that mistake, Leo tripped a set of alarms and Donovan then proceeded to trip another set, forcing them to run for Romeo's cell. Of course, they didn't know where his cell was, so a combination of Wren and Scarlett playing good cop/bad cop got it out of a guard after fifteen minutes.

"Let's just…" Fia sighed, running a hand through her hair. "Get out of here."

"So much for stealth," Wren remarked calmly, pointing at a massive horde of soldiers coming from both directions.

Donovan stepped out of the cell and cracked his knuckles. With almost comedic intentions, he glanced at the wall and smirked. Fia raised an eyebrow as he reached over and pulled the fire alarm. With a snap, alarms were going off in every direction and fire was a light on his fists.

"Now we're talking," he grinned, charging forwards at the group of oncoming soldiers in the crowded hallway.

The explosion of battle erupted in the hallway.

Fia jumped, feeling her bones shift—not painfully—as wings spawned from her back. They beat strongly, the wingspan about the width of the hallway as she shot forwards. The fourteen year old slammed into an armored soldier, who fired two beams at her from his gun. She dodged both, surprised at her own stealth, and brought her fist up.

It connected with the man's jaw, sending a crack through his chin.

However, Fia's eyes widened in alarm as a shrill pain ran through her fingers. She shouted in surprise and shook out her hand, bouncing around like a rabbit. A dozen or so guards paused in surprise at the movement. They stared at each other for a second before Fia paused, spun, and slammed her wings into them.

 _Ouch_ , she thought bitterly, glancing at her bruising knuckles. _Spider-Man makes it look so easy…_

The young girl continued to battle, whipping through the air and zipping in and out of tiny gaps. She took out a man aiming for Donovan, kicked a woman gunning for Leo, attacked a squad after Sarah and Scarlett and punched a young man going for Kriselle.

Fia came to an abrupt halt when she saw Lycan struggling with Romeo and b-lined in their direction, she prepared to land and felt her wings—

 _Thwack_

Fia nearly cursed when the arm stuck out into her pathway, hitting her dead on in the throat. Her wings faded immediately as she flung down to the ground. "Ow…" she croaked, looking up at the guards.

Well. This wasn't good.

 ** _~AVENGERS~_**

 _Corridor 005_

 _Unknown Location_

Donovan looked over and watched as Kriselle grabbed a guard by the head and disintegrated his helmet, then proceeding to shove him at Scarlett, who punched him smack across the face and drained his energy, sending him to the floor. It was strong team work and Donovan made a mental note to—

 _Crack_

Donovan growled and grabbed his jaw, glaring at the woman that had just slammed the butt of her gun across his jawline.

"Damn, lady," he cursed, rubbing his jaw and cracking it. "You're one tough chick…" He jumped forwards, grabbing the woman and smashing the visor on her helmet, bringing her into a chokehold. "Speaking of which." He tightened his grip, and the lady squeaked in pain.

Her tough demeanor vanished immediately. "Don't kill me, please, I have a family," she begged.

He brought his face close to hers. "Shut up. I'm talking." He pointed across the battlefield—battle _hallway_ , if you will. "See her?" He narrowed his eyes at Sarah, watching as she fluently swung her leg around and sent a full grown man flying backwards into the wall. "Nice piece, huh?"

The woman nodded frantically and Donovan held back a laugh.

"Yea, okay, whatever, you're not even listening. You're just agreeing 'cause I could snap your neck," He rolled his eyes and brought his knee up to her chin, knocking her unconscious immediately. Bringing his eyes back to Sarah, Donovan lifted an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Man, I'm growing soft."

"Sure are," Leo chimed from behind him.

Donovan didn't hesitate to send his elbow into his brother's jaw, sending the younger Sterling to the ground.

"Ow," commented Leo from the ground as he rubbed the injury. "What? It's not like I'm lying. You said it, not me."

A woman lunged at Donovan and wrapped her arms around his neck only to have him grab her by the shoulders and flip her over his head, sending her to the ground next to the other woman.

Donovan shot a fireball at an oncoming guard and offered a hand to Leo, helping him up. He narrowed his eyes. "You getting enough sleep?" He eyed the sprawling red lines in his brother's eyes and grabbed his brother by the head, placing a firm hand on the side of Leo's head, fingers buried in the curly black locks when Leo avoided his gaze. "Leonel." He said sternly.

Leo's eyes flicked back up. "Why? Worried about me?" Donovan stood his ground and Leo quirked an eyebrow. "I'm fine, Don. Come on, you love busting heads. Let's just focus on this." He darted off within the next second.

Donovan smirked. "You're not wrong." He agreed, even though Leo was long gone.

Spinning on his heel, he nearly took Wren's head clear off.

"He's struggling," she announced, easily ducking out of the way of his fist.

The blonde stood frozen in shock at her reflexes before lowering his fist, snapping out of his thoughts and refocusing on the battle. He followed the Asian's gaze over to Lycan, who—Wow. Struggling was an understatement. The boy might have enhanced strength with his wolf-transformation, but he was still struggling to multitask holding Romeo, defending himself and the boy, and escaping.

Donovan turned and suddenly he was back to back with Wren. She fired off waves of altered gravity, sending large amounts of soldiers backwards. Donovan lit his fists with controlled flames and began roasting soldiers' suits barbeque-style.

"Someone should really go help him," Donovan sighed, taking out a man to his right.

He was shocked when Wren smirked back. "Yea. Someone really should."

"Wow, the silent bird speaks. And who knew? She has sarcasm," he returned giddily, peering over his shoulder at her.

"Very funny," she answered.

Maybe this whole 'team' thing wasn't so bad.

 ** _~AVENGERS~_**

 _Lane's Room_

 _Don and Leo's Apartment_

"Here," Lane held out a cup of peppermint tea, steam billowing out of the top.

Carrie sat cross-legged on his bed, crisp white comforter like a pool of snow beneath her. The 16 year old took the tea, cup grasped in shaky hands, careful not to spill even a drop on Lane's bed. She brought a hand to her face, brushing a lock of brown hair away.

Evening light streamed through the one window in the room. Rain pattered off the roof.

Lane lifted the blankets and slipped under the covers, curling up like a cat and closing his eyes. The boy ignored Carrie as she let out a 'oops' in surprise and scooted down further on the bed, putting a little space between them. Instead, he spoke up, opening one eye.

"Wake me up when we hear from the others," he said simply, closing both eyes again.

There was a beat of silence and then the quiet noise of Carrie swallowing a small sip of tea.

"What's wrong?" asked Carrie quietly.

"Nothing," Lane answered, eyes still closed.

The weight distribution shifted and Lane heard Carrie stand up, walking over to the side of the bed opposite of where Lane was. A small clink alerted Lane that Carrie had set down the glass of tea on the bedside table, and small snapping sounds signaled the folding of her glasses, a click residing through the room as she set them down as well.

The bed moved again and Lane felt as Carrie sat down behind him, knees pulled to her chest.

"I can see emotions," she reminded him, still speaking quietly.

Lane opened his eyes, staring at the door he was across from, which led out into the hallway. He remained silent.

Carrie bit her lip. She didn't know him. She hesitated, and then held out her hand, resting it on his shoulder. "I won't tell them."

Lane sighed and rolled over. Carrie quickly pulled back her hand, looking down at him curiously.

"It's just—" Lane held his tongue, letting out a huff through his nose. "They—They're basically my only family, right? 'Cause my dads are always working and it's not safe for them to be around me anyways…and…and I just…they—" He blinked, tears brimming his eyes.

In one swift motion, the covers were kicked down to his feet and Lane was standing, pacing actually.

Lane felt a strange ease around Carrie and suddenly it was like tape had been ripped from his mouth. "They left? And—And they said they'd be right back? They were just visiting their aunt, but their aunt lives in Massachusetts where they're wanted criminals. And I thought 'yea, okay, whatever, my boyfriend and his brother are just gonna go visit their aunt' and I was drunk when they left so I didn't even really think about it?" Lane ran hand through his blonde hair, staring at the floorboards with worried eyes.

"And then, two days later, I get this call? And Leo says he doesn't want to be—be _us_ anymore? He just wants to be him? And so I say, yea, you know, whatever? Like, it's just—it wasn't a serious thing. We were just screwing around. And he continues talking like he didn't even say that? He tells me that Don is drunk at some bar and he's alone and smoking or something? Like cigarettes? Right? It's gotta be cigs… _right_?" Lane looked desperately at Carrie, who opened her mouth and then closed it again, unsure what to say.

"So…I just…y'know…and a week after that, he calls me and says 'hey, we're getting on a plane', and next thing you know—I—I hear on the news that—"

Lane stopped himself, shaking out his hands and then pulling at his collar. Carrie watched him with concerned eyes, frozen in place by the rush of words but also desperately wanting to stand and help.

"I thought—I thought they were _dead_ …" Lane said, frowning, voice suddenly dangerously quiet. "And…And...like how could they do that to me?! And just come back and act like nothing happened?! How could they do that?!" Lane shouted aimlessly, sweeping his hands across his vanity's counter and sending a mess of hair product, nail polish, and other miscellaneous odds and ends to the floor.

He broke down, hands diving deep into his hair and holding tight as he closed his eyes, sobs wracking his body.

A moment passed and Lane felt two arms wrap around his waist. Carrie spoke up in a whisper.

" _It's okay._ "

 ** _~AVENGERS~_**

 _Corridor 005_

 _Unknown Location_

Leo _waltzed_ through the battlefield.

Literally.

He danced.

Weaving in between guards.

"Roses are red. Violets are blue," a speedy kick to a man's gut and the man began falling backwards in slow motion. "You're hot and I'm new?" The teenager tried, pausing to think about it. "Hm. Roses are red. Violets are weeds. You're adorable, I've got the speeds…" He cringed visibly. "Oh god. That's terrible."

The speedster turned and lightly tapped a woman's cheek. The effect was immediate, her face slowly contorting as she was sent flying off to the side in slow motion. He kneed a man in the crotch and yanked one lady's hair.

He'd have to go back home soon for another dose of his meds.

Speaking of, Leo glanced over at Scarlett and then Kriselle. They could tell anyone. Anytime. Leo felt anxiety rise in his chest. He darted over to the two and his hands sped up in two blurs. He held them a mere inch from the girls' chests.

"I could kill you," he said almost nonchalantly to the girls. "Man. I could kill you right now…" He paused, refusing to admit that he was losing it as he calmed his hands. He looked down at his hands, which were shaking. He was losing his grip. He almost killed them. Taking a shaky breath, Leo looked back up at Kriselle, who was still frozen, untouched. "Don't tell anyone, okay?"

A moment later, he was back to his shenanigans, messing with guards and humming _Green Day._ All of this was just too easy. Battles were exhilarating, one wrong step and he could bust his spine. And yet, at the same time they were boring as all heck.

After all, nothing could—

Leo didn't have time to react when the ground in front of him exploded in shards of metal. He narrowly managed to get his hands up to protect his face. The teen flipped over multiple times, tumbling to the ground and burning road rash into multiple areas of his body – some of which he'd prefer not to discuss.

He managed to get his feet under himself once more, but looked up to see a glowing blue net flying towards him. Leo's feet cycled on the metal floor, but he missed his footing and felt the net wrap tightly around his form. Electricity came from every direction and Leo cried out as he was sent to the ground in a twitching, electrified burrito.

Lycan looked up off to Leo's left and nearly dropped Romeo.

" _Iron Man?!_ "

 **Ta da! Cliff hanger! :)**

 **READ: So, let's recap. Lycan is no longer a lonely bean. Sarah unveiled more of Don and Leo's past! Leo managed to screw up the stealthy rescue. Carrie and Lane had a bonding moment. Romeo was…rescued…? And Iron Man is there?!**

 **PLEASE REVIEW SOME OF THE SCENES SPECIFICALLY, IT HELPS A LOT. :)**

 **I would like to emphasize that I do NOT do drugs and if you see any author writing about doing drugs of any sort, it does NOT mean that they do/smoke them. I respect whatever you choose to do with your life, I just wanted to make it clear that Leo is just a character and in no way do I have experience with those things.**

 **Anyways,**

 **Please drop a comment, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. I apologize for the late update again.**

 **Have a nice night/day. :)**

 **Till next time.**

 **-AG**

 **PS. If you like my writing, please go check out my story _Moving On_ , another Avengers fic. :)**


	8. Save to Strike

Chapter 6-

 **Welcome back everyone. :)**

 **Shall we jump right in?**

 _Corridor 005_

 _Unknown Location_

As soon as Leo hit the floor, Donovan charged forwards, ignoring the shouts from behind him. Much to his surprise, he heard Wren's quick footsteps to his right and wind to his left signaled that Fia had joined in as well.

Donovan raised his fist, fire immediately lighting it as he leaped into the air, fist pulled back and loaded. He landed basically on top of Iron Man, fist cracking across the metal helmet and just barely causing a reaction. The fire-bender used his free hand to grab Stark's neck, clinging for his life and sending a burst of flames at the helmet. Iron Man spiraled, trying to shake Donovan and slamming into walls in the process.

"Woah, kid. You smell like alcohol. You been drinking? That's my thing," commented Iron Man as he whizzed around.

Fia appeared as a blur as they spun and the spinning came to an abrupt stop when Fia grabbed Iron Man's leg, cat claws slicing into the repulsor boot. _So she's more than just wings and scales?!_ Donovan momentarily realized before turning his attention back to the battle. Fia only proved his point when her feet flattened out slightly, resembling a frog, making it easier for her to cling on.

Wren altered gravity and Iron Man was forced to go full power to keep himself off the ground. Sarah was there suddenly, freezing cold water blasting Stark's back. Donovan covered his face, dropping from his perch and landing in a roll to avoid the water. Seeing that the fight was contained, he quickly jogged over to his brother, who was still pulling at the netting.

The electric blue wires seemed to be tightening and they pressed fine lines into Leo's skin, buzzing with every small movement or breath. Donovan kneeled near his brother. Leo had his eyes closed tightly and his ankle was bent awkwardly in the net, the constricting wire only forcing it further in exactly the _wrong_ direction.

The older Sterling reached forwards.

"No!" Leo snapped angrily, one eye opened. "Don't touch it, otherwise we'll both be toast. Just—" He paused as a particularly severe burst of electricity enveloped the net. "Just finish this up quick."

Don opened his mouth with a reply, but the clank of metal was the only warning he had that Stark had landed and his turn-around was just a second to slow. Donovan felt a metal hand grab his neck from behind and he was lifted from the floor, metallic red fingers tightening their grip around his throat.

"Alright, Fireball, let's get this over with."

Fia had been thrown from Stark's leg, and into the wall. Wren was clutching her ribs on the floor. Sarah's arm was burned with repulsor ray. Lycan and Kriselle were fighting off guards to Don's left, Romeo having awakened and firing electricity into the battle. Scarlett was throwing hexes as fast as she could behind the Iron Man, trying to clear a path through the soldiers to help Don.

Donovan cursed, spots blurring his vision as he let out a rage-filled shout and planted a kick in Stark's stomach. He gasped a couple times, giving all he had and throwing punches wherever there was an opening. Iron Man's free hand was up in a second, gripping the fist that Donovan was using to attack.

The last thing he felt before everything went dark was a burning pain in his wrist.

 ** _~AVENGERS~  
_** _Corridor 005_

 _Unknown Location_

Scarlett waved her hand in a wide crescent, a red hex appearing and shooting forwards. She was exhausted and running low on energy. Kriselle, who was disintegrating weapons off to Scarlett's left, seemed to notice and offered her wrist.

"No," Scarlett disagreed immediately. "Just, um, just get me a soldier or something."

"Are you sure?" Kriselle frowned. "They aren't very good on energy."

Scarlett watched as Fia was thrown across the hall and Iron Man landed, heading for Donovan.

"Hurry!" Scarlett urged, firing a hex at another soldier.

Kriselle disintegrated a man's helmet and punched him across the face, dragging him over quickly.

Scarlett grabbed the man's face. Her heartbeat accelerated and she felt the hair on her arms stand on edge as energy transferred up through her body. Donovan was nearly unconscious. Without thinking, Scarlett fired a burst of energy at the two, aiming for Iron Man.

The energy lit up Iron Man like a Christmas light and Donovan fell to the ground, unconscious. Stark followed in suit, collapsing onto his knees with one fist on the ground to hold himself up, smoke coming from his suit.

Scarlett gaped. She couldn't believe she'd just fried a superhero. What did that make her? _Oh god._ She thought immediately. _Does this mean I'm a villain?_

Her thoughts were cut short when Iron Man stood and peered over his shoulder.

Scarlett's eyes widened as sparks flew from Tony Stark's face. His helmet was sizzling and blood crept out from the edges, not much but a considerable amount. A crack ran through the front of the helmet, a bit missing and revealing an eye and part of Stark's nose.

However, Tony's face flickered back and forth between his own and…someone…someone else's.

Scarlett narrowed her eyes and the imposter seemed to realize what was happening.

"I—Please—!" shouted 'Stark', static cutting in and out. He attempted to take off only to have the repulsor boot spark and sizzle, sending him to the ground.

Romeo was on him in a second, frying the Arc Reactor with a hand. The imposter shouted again, trying helplessly to lift his heavy metal limbs. "Pl—ait—I—!"

"Who the _hell_ are you?!" demanded the French man, using his foot to pin down one of the imposter's arms.

Scarlett joined him, pinning the other arm, hands raised defensively. "Speak." She barked angrily.

The witch glanced over her shoulder and watched Kriselle help Lycan up. Fia was working on awakening Donovan and Wren was limping over with Sarah.

The imposter narrowed his eyes. "Rem—met—Please!"

Scarlett released a burst of energy and the imposter growled in pain. "You ready to talk yet?"

"I—n't—se!" static overcame the voice and suddenly the imposter was convulsing in a way that sent Scarlett and Romeo backwards onto their asses. The imposter's foot repulsor seemed to go off randomly, sending sparks everywhere. The scariest part was how the imposter was clawing at the helmet, more smoke rising with every second.

"The helmet!" Sarah was the first to snap out of it. "Get the damn helmet off! It's hurting him!"

"He tried to kill us!" snapped Lycan angrily, one hand pressed firmly to his head.

"We tried to kill him!" corrected Sarah authoritatively. "Now do what I say and remove the helmet!"

Donovan limped forwards, obvious hand-shaped bruises on his neck. He coughed, the most thorough anger Scarlett had ever seen locked in his steel grey eyes. He sunk his fingers into the crack in the metal like it was nothing, callused hands disappearing into the top of the helmet. He ripped in either direction and the helmet came off with a loud shriek of metal. The suit opened up on some sort of bail-maneuver and revealed the full body of the imposter.

Scarlett felt the energy dissipate from her fingertips, jaw falling slack as her eyes laid upon the imposter in the suit.

A slim boy no older than 17, with olivey skin and a mess of short black hair with forest green highlights was revealed. He was more feminine than not, and brought his hands frantically up to his face and peeled a mask from his face. Tony Stark disappeared immediately, unveiling hazel grey eyes and a slim jawline. Blood trailed from cuts and burns scattered across his face.

The boy was up in seconds.

"We have to leave," he urged, voice almost innocent and light hearted.

"What? Woah there, Speed Racer, you've got some explaining to do," Scarlett snapped immediately.

The boy's eyes widened. "I can't! We don't have the time, okay?! The safety alarms were tripped when the helmet was removed! He's going to come for us, so we have to run, okay?! Now let's—"

He didn't get to finish.

Scarlett couldn't comprehend as her bones lit with fire.

 ** _~AVENGERS~_**

 _Corridor 005_

 _Unknown Location_

Romeo was getting sick of blowing up.

He blinked, coughing dust from his lungs and wincing as he lifted himself to his elbows, pieces of wreckage digging into his elbows. The hallway was shredded, seemingly blown out into a bubble-like shape, the walls caving in and the floor sunk downwards, the ceiling up. Romeo didn't know how they weren't all dead.

But there they all were, sprawled out around him on the ground. Some were unconscious, some weren't. Either way, they all seemed relatively unharmed, their only injuries from the fight previous.

He got to his feet slowly, looking around.

The angry fire guy was all the way down the hall, having been blasted against the opposite wall of Romeo, a large cut in his head leaking onto the floor across his face.

Defensive water girl was a few feet away from Fire Guy, hair splayed out and covering her face, unconscious.

Disintegration girl and Wings Girl were nearly on top of each other, both trapped beneath Mystery Boy (AKA Iron Man Imposter).

Lying next to the suit that had caused the explosion was Magic Girl, and Wolf Boy, both were dazed but conscious. Gravity Girl was helping Wolf Boy up to his feet, the three seemed decently unharmed.

Speed Kid had awakened apparently minutes ago and was seemingly biting through the net he was incased in, electricity buzzing and sizzling in his mouth from the contact.

Romeo saw his opportunity to help and quickly jogged over to Speed Kid.

He'd only gotten his powers a day ago. He didn't know how to use them. And, yet, he knew _exactly_ what to do.

The first step he took was to grab Speed Kid by the hair and force him to stop biting at the net, as many angry curses as it earned him. Romeo ignored them, grabbing the net without giving himself time to think about it. He began untangling where it had wrapped tightly. Just as he expected, the electricity was a mere tingle on his fingers, just like when he used his powers.

Speed Kid stared in silence, eyes flicking over to who Romeo could only assume was some closely related person, also known as Fire Guy.

The net came untangled and the kid was gone, at Fire Guy's side in an instant. Shouts of "Donovan! Wake the hell up!" accompanied him.

Romeo stood, startling when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw Gravity Girl, one eyebrow lifted.

"Do you hear that?"

Romeo furrowed his brows, looking off to the side and focusing on listening.

Footsteps filled the air. Loud ones, at that.

"Soldiers are coming," the girl continued. "We have to leave."

Romeo's eyebrows shot upwards. "What—? But—"

"I know," The girl nodded. "But if we all get taken then none of us are going to make it. We need to regroup and we can't hold all of these people. It would be one person per each of us and we need to defend ourselves. Not to mention we'd have to get them out from under the wreckage. We have a ride outside but we need to leave. Now."

Romeo saw the desperation in the girl's eyes. She didn't want to do this. She had to. She knew Romeo wasn't going to make a decision, and seeing as they were the oldest, it had to be her. She wasn't wrong. It was better the five of them (plus whoever the 'ride' was) against whoever they were dealing with, than everyone being taken and possibly…well. He was attempting optimism.

"O—Okay," nodded Romeo, swallowing thickly. "You're right. What do you need?"

The girl nodded. "My name is Wren." He noted that mentally. She spoke quickly and to-the-point. "That's Leo." She pointed The man on the ground? His older brother Donovan. He's not going to leave Donovan, okay? They've been through hell. Thing is, he's awake and Donovan is not. Also Donovan is about two times my weight. Donovan is strong. He can handle himself. We just need to get Leo out of here. Sarah is the girl to their left."

Romeo focused on everyone Wren pointed out, comprehending things as fast as he could.

"She's one tough chick. Also trapped. Kriselle might not look like much but she's strong. She'll take care of herself. Fia is just a kid and—" Wren cut herself off, cursing. "I wish we could grab her but we can't. We move her and we could do more damage than good. So we aren't going to. Sarah and Don will protect her." She almost sounded like she was trying to convince herself. "I have no idea who Iron Man Jr is but he's obviously not here by choice. That said, he's just as trapped as they are, and if anything he'll provide an insight for them. You got all that?" Wren looked back at him.

Romeo nodded quickly.

"Good. The kid that went all wolf? He means a lot to me. He hit his head and he's pretty out of it. I'm going to help him." Wren said sternly. Romeo nodded in agreement. "The girl is Scarlett. She's awake. She'll cover us. You grab Leo. I'll grab Lycan. We'll move. Scarlett will cover us. Clear?"

Romeo nodded for the billionth time, heart racing as the first soldier rounded the corner.

"Go!" Wren shouted as the soldier opened fire, some sort of stun beam hitting the wall beside Romeo's head. It was strangely comforting to know the ammunition wasn't fatal.

The Frenchman raced forwards. He reached Leo within minutes and locked his arms under Leo's, not giving the boy any time to react as he hoisted him to his feet and slung him over his shoulder.

"Let me go!" Leo roared as soon as Romeo began running. A line of curses sprung from the boy's mouth and Romeo bit his lip. "Drop me! Now! Donovan! Stop it!" Leo was thrashing with all of his might, fists pounding on Romeo's back and legs narrowly missing Romeo's nose. "I'm gonna _kill_ you! I'm gonna fucking kill you!" the yells turned into straight up screaming and shouting in anger.

Everything was a swirl of action.

Leo continued to threaten Romeo with death. Romeo felt fear arise in his chest as the speed of Leo's thrashing rose with every second. The electric net that had contained Leo earlier flashed through Romeo's mind. Before he gave himself time to think, Romeo allowed electricity to flee his body in every direction. Leo let out a shriek of pain that chilled Romeo to his bones before going limp in Romeo's arms.

The Frenchmen let out an exhausted breath, having been running this entire time in a direction that may not have been the exit but was away from the enemy.

A glance to his left and Romeo spotted Wren sprinting full speed, Lycan over her shoulders. She was a lot stronger than she looked. Scarlett was firing off blasts in every direction, turning faster than Romeo thought possible.

Before he knew it the metal of the hallways disappeared and suddenly they were pushing through doors. Rain hit his face. Mud made running tricky.

Just as according to Wren's really choppy, kinda rushed plan that she'd explained, a girl sat in the front seat of the pickup truck. She must've arrive during the battle. A boy sat in the passenger and both seemed stunned when the doors flew open and the teens raced out.

The backseat door was opened in seconds and Romeo gently—well, that's a lie—set Leo in the backseat before entering himself. Wren practically threw Lycan in the bed of the truck, leaping in after him. Scarlett dove into the bed after them, landing rough but quickly sitting up and firing at guards.

"Drive!" Romeo shouted, slamming his door shut.

"What happened?!"

"Is he okay?!"

"Where is everyone?!"

"We can't leave!"

"Drive!" Romeo felt anger rush from his tone and the girl in the front slammed the gas, releasing a cry of anguish as she did so. The boy in the front was shouting, but Romeo didn't comprehend it.

His lungs burned, his legs were on fire, his shoulder was bruised, he was muddy and dirty and filthy and every other word he could think of. He looked out the window and saw soldiers disappear into the distance.

Then everything went black.

 ** _~AVENGERS~_**

 _Unknown Location_

A thousand thoughts race through Carrie's head.

The first and foremost was : where the _hell_ was the rest of the group?

Were they okay? Injured? _Dead?_ Maybe they were escaping on foot. Unlikely. Hiding out inside the facility? Not likely either.

The second was that she needed Lane to stop panicking, because he wasn't buckled in, and if he kept stressing out Carrie, they were definitely going to get in an accident. The boy was clutching the dashboard with white knuckles. Sweat lined his forehead already and it'd been minutes since Romeo had entered the car with Leo.

"What the hell happened?!" he was screaming to everyone and no one at the same time.

"I _don't_ know!" Carrie shouted back frantically, both hands on the wheel and foot still slamming the gas.

"Oh my God, where the _hell_ is Don?! And Sarah!? Kriselle?! Fia?! Someone explain!" Lane was full out screaming now, at the top of his lungs. "Leonel! Wake up, damn it!" The window was suddenly being rolled down and before Carrie could stop it, Lane was half out of the car, screaming at the top of his lungs. "Wren! Explain! Now! Where the hell is everyone!? I want some freakin' answers! I—!"

"No one is going to explain!" Carrie snapped loudly, reaching over and yanking him in by the shirt. "Now buckle your _damn_ seat belt and be quiet!" she growled.

Lane's entire persona seemed to change. He ignored her orders completely, leaving his seatbelt off as she rolled up his window. He was suddenly a sobbing mess. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my _god_. What if they're dead? What if they were killed—and—and—oh my god what if Don is dead and the last thing I said to him was that he was stupid and he should just tell you guys his life story?! And why was that my place anyways?! Oh my god, Carrie, what are we gonna do?! We can't take them! They didn't take them! So how can we?! Oh my—"

"God! Yea, I know!" Carrie shouted suddenly, feeling panic rising. "Okay, here's what we're gonna do. We're—um—we're gonna get back and we're gonna hide the car. We're gonna lay low and we're gonna clear things up. Okay?"

Lane was breathing quickly but naturally and nodded. "Yea…yea…okay.." Lane relaxed back into his seat, still tense, and gazed out his window with a look of shock on his face.

Carrie glanced at her mirrors and pulled off of the dirt road and onto a pavement one. They wouldn't be able to tail them, because pavement doesn't leave tire tracks. That said, she quickly spun the tires on the road to burn off any remaining dirt.

They arrived quickly at the warehouse and Carrie turned sharply to Lane as soon as the car stopped.

"Go inside. Figure out what happened. Make sure everyone is okay. I'm going to go hide the truck."

 ** _~AVENGERS~_**

 _The Living Room_

 _Don and Leo's Apartment_

Lycan watched Lane's slim fingers as they bandaged up a cut on his head.

Neither of them had spoken since Wren had explained everything that had happened. Lane seemed relieved that everyone was alive, but Lycan couldn't help but be concerned that it wouldn't stay that way. They were on a clock. A clock with no hands and no numbers. A clock made of adamantium.

No one had actually spoken except Wren, now that Lycan was thinking about it.

Scarlett was sitting on the island in the kitchen, staring at the floor. Wren was across from her, water bottle in hand. She leaned against the opposite counter, taking small sips every now and then. Romeo had walked in and managed to stay awake for the explanation of what happened, but quickly curled up on the sofa and fell asleep. Wren was nice enough to grab a knit blanket from the closet and put it over him. Leo had been carried into his room and although Lycan had heard him moving around earlier, it was just to close the door. Carrie had just gotten back.

Lane stood up shakily, breaking Lycan from his thoughts. He nearly toppled over again, but held up a hand when Lycan tried to help.

"Be careful," Lycan said just above a whisper, throat sore.

Lane nodded half-heartedly and stumbled over to the stares, walking up and into his room. The door closed a minute later and Lycan sniffed, wiped his nose with his sleeve and then stood.

"What…um….what exactly do we…Where do we go from here…?" he asked it quietly, but his voice carried throughout the entire building.

Scarlett blinked at the floor.

Wren sipped her water.

Lycan sat back down and hugged his knees to his chest. He couldn't help but think of Fia. He'd known her a day and she was already like a little sister.

Reluctantly, the werewolf let himself fall asleep.

 ** _~AVENGERS~_**

 _Don and Leo's Apartment_

Lane entered the living room, a blanket around his shoulders.

Lycan must've fallen asleep, because Wren had just woken Lycan and Lane could hear them discussing their next move in his bedroom. Romeo shifted in his sleep, adjusting the blanket over his shoulders. Scarlett looked over at Lane from her place reading on the kitchen floor. Carrie had joined her, her own book in hand. Lane looked over at Leo's door curiously. He hadn't been out since they got home.

A few steps later and he was opening the door. Scarlett glanced up again warily, but Lane ignored her, entering Leo's room in silence.

It was dark, the only light coming from a couple firefly lights at a dim setting. Lycan felt uneasiness settle into his stomach quickly, but he couldn't help his natural worry for Leonel. The boy's worry quickly turned to concern and he furrowed his brows in confusion at the huddled form of Leo on the bed.

"Leonel?" Lane asked quietly, taking a hesitant step forwards. "Are you awake?"

Two steps later and he was peering over Leo's huddled form.

Lane frowned when his eyes met the spilled bottles of pills all over the bed, scattered among the piles of fur blankets.

 _No. No way. Not Leo._ His thoughts quickly ran rapid, but the 16 year old managed to gain some composure when Leo's chest rose and sunk with breaths. Leo's mother had warned him about pills…Leo was just using them for his health, right? And pills were okay when they were used correctly? The boy was lost and his entire body didn't seem to know how to react to the thoughts, instead just shoving them away.

"Leo?" Lane prodded the slightly older boy with his hand.

Leo shifted and then rolled over.

Lane tried not to cringe at how red Leo's eyes were. Had they always been like that? _No, they haven't._ Muttered a bitter voice in his head.

"Are you okay?" He asked instinctively. Lane's entire form twitched in fear when Leo started giggling. The giggles turned to chuckling and soon Leo was cackling loudly, eyes watering.

"Am I… _okay?_ " He repeated.

Lane tried to remain still when Leo turned and looked in the opposite direction, gazing back in the direction of the window.

"Did he just ask me if I'm… _okay_?" Leo demanded loudly but in a dazed manor, still grinning like a madman.

"Um…" Lane frowned.

"I know, right…?" Leo muttered, sounding like he just woke up. "Who does he think he is…?" Leo drawled almost threateningly. The boy continued to banter with his invisible friend, laughing occasionally.

Lane's hands clenched into fists tightly and then unclenched nervously. He cautiously reached forwards, and Leo didn't even seem to see his hands as he picked up the orange container that had fallen over on the bed. He scooped up a handful of tiny white pills and slipped them into the bottle after unscrewing the cap. A few more. A few more. A—

"What are you doing…?" Leo asked quietly, sounding almost hurt.

"I…I…um…" Lane froze, unsure of what to say. "I'm going to take these…and—"

"Take them…?" Leo repeated like an echo, eyebrows furrowing in confusion. "No…I…I need those."

"It's okay, Leonel…" the last of the pills were in the container. "I'm just gonna—"

"No!" Lane shouted angrily. He was on his feet in seconds, and yet Lycan felt like it was slower than usual. He took a fearful step back, bottle clutched in grasp.

"Calm down!" commanded Lane instinctively. He felt his worries rise as Leo clutched his own head with both hands, tears brimming his eyes.

"I…I don't…" Leo sat back down and covered his face with his hands. Lycan felt pity rise.

"Are you—" the boy cut himself off. "I mean, what's wrong?"

Leo shrugged, a smile reappearing on his face. It reminded Lane of a kid that was trying to smile to impress a girl. "Leave me alone."

"But—"

Lane ducked with a yelp when Leo snatched a shoe from the ground and chucked it at Lane's head with deadly accuracy. "Get out." He ordered, sounding tired. The shoe hit the door and Leo laid back on his bed, muttering things to himself.

Lane didn't try to speak, simply turning around. His blood went cold when a cold hand locked onto his wrist.

"Wait, don't leave, please?" Leo asked quietly.

"I—" Lane didn't know how to respond. "But you said—"

"You should stay with me and…and…we can watch the birds together, okay?" Leo asked. He gestured to the room and Lane frowned. This felt wrong.

"Birds?" the boy inquired unsurely.

"You see them…" Leo's gaze saddened, and he looked at Lane almost desperately. "… _right?_ "

Lane couldn't help it.

He sighed, pity creeping up into his throat.

His friend was not okay.

"Yea…Leo. I see them."

 **Ooh, man, *winces* that was actually very tough to write. But it is longer than usual, so I hope that appeases you guys. :)**

 **Someone new! SO MANY HAVE BEEN CAPTURED! And by who?! Is Lane going to spill the beans?! Is Scarlett?! Is everyone going to be OKAY?! AGH! Find out in the next episode. ;)**

 **I'm gonna keep this short, because I want to hear your guys theories and such in the comments, so please drop one. ;)**

 **-AG**


End file.
